New Jersey prosecutors charged four people accused of running a coordinated scheme to extract more than $250k through fraudulent travel insurance claims, state officials said.
Matthew J. Platkin announced the indictment alongside the Division of Criminal Justice and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
The defendants include Agustin Matos of North Haledon, New Jersey, Kenia Ivonne Vasquez of the Bronx, and Fort Lee residents Keyra Carla Liriano and Patricio Arturo Alfonso.
A state grand jury returned the indictment on Dec. 5, 2025. Prosecutors charged all four with conspiracy, insurance fraud, attempted theft by deception, impersonation or identity theft, and falsifying or tampering with records. Liriano faces an additional count of theft by deception.
Investigators said the case began after a referral from American International Group.
From April 2022 through August 2023, across Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic counties, New York, and elsewhere, the group allegedly purchased multiple travel insurance policies covering the same trip to the same overseas destination.
According to prosecutors, the applications relied on false identities and credit card information that linked the defendants. Afterward, they allegedly filed claims with several insurers, asserting hospitalizations abroad and thousands of dollars in medical bills tied to emergencies that never occurred.
The filings, officials said, reused identical documentation across carriers while certifying no other insurance existed for the trip or expenses.
Most insurers rejected the insurance claims. Authorities said Liriano nonetheless collected $14,835 from two carriers.
In total, prosecutors allege attempted fraud of about $252,852, broken down as $19,986 attributed to Matos, $27,812 to Vasquez, $37,226 to Liriano, and $167,829 to Alfonso.
State officials emphasized the charges remain allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless a court proves otherwise.
