Union County Man Charged With Staging Car Accident, Witness Tampering

The nephew of the admitted mastermind of several staged car accidents in northern New Jersey has been indicted for running his own fake accident scheme, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced on Thursday.

Miguel Saldivar-Liberato, 28, of Linden, was also indicted for tampering with witnesses who he believed were planning to implicate him in a major insurance fraud investigation conducted by the State.

Saldivar-Liberato has been charged with one count of second-degree witness tampering, second-degree conspiracy, second-degree insurance fraud, third-degree theft by deception, third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution, two counts of third-degree witness tampering, and one count of third-degree attempted witness tampering. The charges were contained in indictments secured by OIFP on Dec. 4 and Dec. 9.

He and four others were charged in connection with staging an accident on Jan. 9, 2012 in Paterson.

The others include: Hairo Matias, 21, of Paterson; Daniela Garcia, 28, of Passaic; and Ramon Mosquea, 25, of Paterson; and Anthony DeCastro, 22, of Paterson.

These four defendants were charged with second-degree conspiracy, second-degree insurance fraud and third-degree theft by deception.

Saldivar-Liberato allegedly recruited the participants and provided directions regarding how to stage the accident.

Garcia is alleged to have driven an unindicted co-conspirator in a Grey 2005 Nissan Altima, while Matias, Mosquea, and DeCastro were passengers in a 1993 tan Toyota Corolla driven by a second unindicted co-conspirator.

That vehicle allegedly purposely hit Garcia’s, as per the plan conceived by Saldivar-Liberato, and the police were then called.

The police were told that the accident was real. OIFP believes the accident was fake.

According to the indictment, Saldivar-Liberato directed the four other defendants to complain of fake injuries and to obtain treatment at certain designated medical providers. OIFP is alleging that the fraudulent claims made by the defendant and the two unindicted co-conspirators resulted in the insurers paying out to the defendants and the unindicted co-conspirators a total of $55,468.

Saldivar-Liberato allegedly tampered with an unindicted co-conspirator in this case, as well as two defendants involved in cases investigated as part of Operation Bang-Up, an investigation by OIFP that targeted staged-car accidents in Passaic County from 2009 to 2013.

In one instance, it is alleged that he offered to pay for a defendant’s legal fees in exchange for his name not being mentioned in connection with the alleged crime.

“Saldivar-Liberato is an alleged master scammer and has recruited several ‘actors’ to go along with these schemes that not only defraud insurers but threaten the public’s safety,” Hoffman said. “When it became clear that we were aggressively investigating these scams, he allegedly tried to influence those actors to either take the fall themselves or point the finger at others who had nothing to do with the crimes.”

“Insurance fraud exists in many forms, but staged accidents are of particular concern because the fraudulent claims they create result in multiple sectors being affected,” Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi said. “In these cases, many times doctors are treating patients that do not need care and insurers are fixing cars that should have never been damaged. The bottom line here is that all insurance premium payers are victims of this fraud.”

Saldivar-Liberato and his uncle, Oliveras Liberato-Cohen, allegedly directed the uncle’s co-defendants to fabricate a story that would not implicate Saldivar-Liberato in the State’s investigation.

Liberato-Cohen, 46, of Passaic, admitted last month that he was the lead organizer of two staged automobile accidents that occurred in 2010 and were the focus of the Operation Bang Up investigation.

The state has recommended he serve five years in state prison and that he and his co-conspirators pay restitution in the amount of $179,210.

He was not charged with witness tampering for his alleged role with Saldivar-Liberato.

The attached images of Miguel Saldivar-Liberato, Hairo Matias, Daniela Garcia, Ramon Mosquea and Anthony DeCastro was provided the Attorney General’s Office.