N.J. Company Employee Pleads Guilty to $100,000 Theft

New Jersey’s Acting Attorney General Peter Harvey announced that a Camden County insurance company employee entered a guilty plea to charges of stealing more than $100,000 from his insurance company employer.

According to Vaughn McKoy, First Deputy Director, Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Le T. Harlin, 23, of Pendleton Court, Voorhees, entered a guilty plea to theft by deception (2nd degree) before Camden County Superior Court Judge David G. Eynon. Harlin is scheduled to return to court on April 11 for sentencing by Judge Eynon. A second degree offense carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000.

Gooden Brown noted that Harlin was charged via a State Grand Jury indictment returned on Oct. 30, 2002. The indictment alleged that from July 17, 2000, through March 27, 2002, Harlin stole monies intended for Ohio Casualty Insurance Company.

Employed as a claims specialist in Ohio Casualty’s Mt. Laurel office, Harlin’s duties gave him access to third party checks payable to Ohio Casualty. The indictment alleged that Harlin took checks payable to Ohio Casualty , forged company endorsements with a rubber stamp, and deposited the checks into a personal account. The theft allegedly involved as many as 44 checks totaling $101,869.