Manalapan Man Charged With Insurance Fraud

Manalapan, NJ - A Manalapan man was charged Wednesday with submitting fraudulent health insurance claims in the name of the ophthalmologist he worked for -- and then stealing the insurance checks when they came into the doctor’s office.

Austin B. Mongiello, 27, of Manalapan, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree health care claims fraud, third-degree theft by deception, third-degree theft by unlawful taking, and fourth-degree forgery.

According to the indictment, between September 1, 2012 and March 30, 2013, Mongiello submitted $4,155 in fraudulent health insurance claims to VSP, an insurance carrier specializing in vision care. He allegedly submitted the claims under the name of his employer, an ophthalmologist with a practice in Belleville.

VSP issued checks amounting to $1,456 to the ophthalmologist, but Mongiello was only able to steal $842 worth of VSP checks from the doctor’s office, prosecutors said. Mongiello was also charged with stealing $687.28 in checks made payable to his employer by Davis Vision, IPA, another insurance carrier specializing in vision care, state prosecutors said.

Photo of Austin Mongiello provided by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General