HILLSBOROUGH: Woman pleads guilty to auto insurance fraud

   A Hillsborough woman pleaded guilty to lying on her auto insurance policy and benefiting to the tune of almost $35,000 over 13 years.
   Maria Demeter, who is also known as Maria Schebece , of East Brookside Lane, Hillsborough, entered the plea Friday, Nov. 30, to Judge Julie M. Marino to insurance fraud in the third degree.
   The state recommended she be placed on non-custodial probation and perform 50 hours of community service. She also agreed to make restitution, which could amount up to $39,019.76.
   Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said that in April, his office’s Insurance Fraud Unit received a referral from New Jersey Manufacturer’s Insurance Company. The company said Ms. Demeter recently had disclosed that she made “material misrepresentation” in obtaining her motor vehicle insurance policies since 1999.
   Ms. Demeter, 42, obtained two motor vehicle policies as a single woman living in a household with no other registered drivers. However, she was in fact married and living with her husband, a registered New Jersey driver.
   Ms. Demeter’s misrepresentations gained a lower rate than she would have eligible, due to her spouse’s driving record.
NJM seeks restitution for $39,019.76. According to the company, $34,814 is due to cover premiums she avoided paying. An additional $4,205.76 is for a payment Ms. Demeter received on March 1, 2010, for a claim that she made. She would have been ineligible to receive that claim payout without the fraud, according to the prosecutor’s office.
   Ms. Demeter was served on Aug. 27 with a summons complaint and released on her own recognizance.
   She is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 1. She was released pending sentencing.