TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced today that two defendants have been sentenced to state prison terms in two separate insurance fraud cases.

“Insurance is a necessary protection against unintended consequences, and it can be expensive to maintain,” said Attorney General Platkin. “People who rip off the system contribute unnecessarily to this cost. Filing false claims is a crime, and we will find and punish those who commit these illegal acts.”

“Our office was established to combat exactly the types of schemes these defendants allegedly engaged in,” said Interim Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Al Garcia. “Our investigators and attorneys are always working to root out this wrongdoing. We are grateful for the cooperation of insurers who help us put together these cases and bring the offenders to justice.”

Yoel Arencibia Cabrera, 42, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Jesus Lopez, 46, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, were charged on August 28, 2024, in a six-count indictment with arson (1st degree) and conspiracy (2nd degree), among other charges. On June 28, 2023, Cabrera paid Lopez to set fire to Cabrera’s 2023 Acura MDX. After Lopez set the vehicle on fire on July 1, 2023, Cabrera attempted to obtain insurance proceeds for the car from Progressive Insurance Company, which referred the case to OIFP. On April 14, 2025, Cabrera pleaded guilty to 2nd degree insurance fraud before Hudson County Superior Court Judge John A. Young Jr. Cabrera was sentenced on June 13, 2025, to five years in state prison. Lopez is currently a fugitive. The charges against him are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Timaahd Barnes, 34, of Clementon, New Jersey, was indicted on October 24, 2024, by a state grand jury and charged with two counts of theft by deception (2nd degree) and financial facilitation of criminal activity (2nd degree) after a referral from CSAA Insurance Group. While working as a remote claims adjuster for CSAA, Barnes illegally diverted payments from valid insurance claims to himself on approximately 70 occasions from August 2, 2022, to October 11, 2022. The scheme resulted in $390,851 in disbursements by CSAA and its subsidiaries to Barnes. Barnes also obtained over $75,000 from Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company by illegally diverting payments from valid insurance claims to himself between August 28, 2023, and April 24, 2024. On April 7, 2025, Barnes pled guilty to two counts of 2nd degree theft by deception and was sentenced on May 30, 2025, before Camden County Superior Court Judge Gwendolyn Blue to five years in state prison. The State seized $101,092 from the defendant during the investigation and at sentencing, Judge Blue ordered $50,546 of the seized monies to be repaid back to CSAA Insurance, and $50,546 be repaid back to Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.

The Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and deterring insurance fraud and serves as the statewide coordinator for all anti-insurance fraud efforts in New Jersey. With more than 50 detectives and 20 prosecutors, OIFP investigates a range of complex fraud schemes.

OIFP’s mission includes coordination of all anti-insurance fraud activities statewide, and many successful prosecutions are a result of initial anonymous tips. If you are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud, OIFP wants to hear from you. You can report fraud anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to eligible persons who provide information that leads to an arrest, prosecution, and conviction for insurance fraud.