Bergen Woman Gets 4 Yrs. For Superstorm Sandy Insurance Fraud

A Bergen County woman was sentenced to four years in prison for insurance fraud after she filed a phony insurance claims for losses she allegedly sustained during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Katreecea Cline, 49, of Elmwood Park, pleaded guilty to two counts of insurance fraud and fraud by insolvency Feb. 13. She was sentenced by Bergen County Superior Court Judge James J. Guida.

Cline admitted she submitted fake and altered receipts to her insurance company showing that items in her apartment in Elmwood Park, in her son’s dorm room in Harrison, and stored at her brother’s home in Keansburg were damaged as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Cline collected a total of $53,800 on those fraudulent claims.

Cline and her husband Stevie Mitchell signed a bankruptcy claim in November 2012. They claimed they had nearly $210,000 in debt and only $36,000 in assets. She failed to report they had property interest in the outcome of the Superstorm Sandy claims and that they had an account with Metabank. The couple had $175,000 of debt wiped out.

Charges filed against Mitchell in connection with the fraudulent bankruptcy application have been dismissed.

“Today’s sentencing makes it clear that we will not allow individuals to undermine the integrity of the insurance system, especially in the aftermath of a natural disaster like Superstorm Sandy,” said Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. “Fraudulent claims not only steal money meant to cover legitimate losses, they force genuine victims to wait longer for their claims to be processed.”

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Katreecea Cline, 49, of Elmwood Park