Auto Insurance Fraud Ring Busted In Westchester, Bronx: DA

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Nine people have been accused of committing insurance fraud using auto body shops in southern Westchester and the Bronx.

Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. announced Wednesday the takedown of Operation Sledgehammer, an enterprise insurance fraud scheme that operated in New Rochelle, others parts of Westchester County and the Bronx.

Five registered businesses and nine people were charged with felony enterprise corruption for defrauding insurance companies by making damage to cars worse and falsifying insurance claims, resulting from a two-year-long investgation.

Joseph S. Cermele, of Scarsdale, Rangee Jawahir, of Dobbs Ferry, Georgette S. Sloley, of Mount Vernon, and Wayne M. Scott, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, were arrested Dec. 1 and arraigned in New Rochelle City Court, authorities said.

Ronnie Lee-Andro Jawahir, of New Rochelle, Allan Ramdeo Ramiah, of New Rochelle, Ronald Jawahir, of the Bronx, Danesh Singh, of the Bronx, and Andrew Arjune, of the Bronx, were arrested Tuesday and were also arraigned in New Rochelle City Court, according to prosecutors.

They were all released without bail to return to court on different dates throughout December and January.

The businesses that were charged were Lee's Auto Repair, Inc., Cermele's Auto Collision, LLC, R&G Auto Works, Inc., and Ramiah Auto Repair, Inc., in New Rochelle and City Auto Repair, Inc., in the Bronx.

In addition to the corruption charge, the nine defendants also face other charges, including second-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree money laundering, third-degree insurance fraud and third-degree grand larceny, all felonies.

Prosecutors said, from May 31, 2019, to March 3, the defendants intentionally conducted and participated in a pattern of criminal activity in the form of auto insurance fraud using auto repair shops.

The so-called "Jawahir Enterprise" focused on defrauding of insurance companies by submitting claims that show they enhanced damage to vehicles with or without the knowledge of the owners and intentionally damaged cars that were not previously damaged, according to authorities.

Police said several schemes were used to defraud the insurance companies, including worsening the damage so the body shop could increase the billed repair cost and staging accidents between two or more cars, at least one of which was owned by someone who had insurance.

An additional scheme involved striking the insured cars with heavy objects such as sledgehammers or rubbing light assemblies alongside a car, prosecutors said, creating damage that simulated collisions with parked cars.

To ensure the success of the operation, members of the enterprise used auto body shops that legally existed but were not operational, had employees assisting in damaging the cars, got car owners to offer their vehicles in exchange for a portion of the insurance payout and had people who called insurance companies posing as vehicle owners filing claims, among other actions.

Three other people — Latoya Shonta Turner, Reiluis Medina and Andrea Thompson — were charged on separate complaints with related crimes, including third-degree grand larceny and third-degree insurance fraud, felonies.

Scarpino said auto insurance theft affects everyone, because insurance fraud is not a victimless crime.

"When false claims are made and money is stolen from insurance companies, it forces all of our insurance rates to increase and costs each of us hard-earned money," he said.

Scarpino said the arrests send two messages.

"To all fraudsters: know that this type of illegal conduct will not be tolerated in this county and will be fully investigated and prosecuted," he said. "And to the people of Westchester: know that we actively seek out and bring to justice those enterprises which seek to gain illegal monies to the detriment of all insurance policy holders."

Operation Sledgehammer was a collaborative investigation led by the district attorney's Investigations Division and Criminal Investigators (Auto Crimes Unit) with the assistance of the following agencies and law enforcement:

• City of New Rochelle Police Department
• New York State Police Special Investigation – Auto Theft Unit
• City of Yonkers Police Department
• New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Division of Field Investigations
• New York State Department of Financial Services
• New York State Environmental Conservation Police
• National Insurance Crime Bureau

Watch video surveillance, provided by the district attorney's office, from Dec. 19, 2019, and Dec. 20, 2019.