Meeks allegedly handed over the keys to a BMW X5 to an undercover officer, who then handed Meeks $2,000 in cash. The transaction allegedly took place on this South Ozone Park block.
By Forum Staff
A Jamaica man has been charged with acting as a “middleman” in an undercover insurance fraud sting operation involving vehicles that had been falsely reported as stolen by their owners in order to get large insurance settlements, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced on Friday.
According to Brown, two vehicle owners also have been arrested and the investigation – which is being conducted by the City Police Department’s Auto Crime Division and the DA’s Auto Crime and Insurance Fraud Unit – is continuing with more arrests expected.
Keith Meeks, 29, of Jamaica, and Christopher Vidal, 28, of the Bronx were arraigned last Wednesday night on a criminal complaint charging them with third-degree grand larceny, third-degree insurance fraud, first-degree falsifying business records, fifth-degree conspiracy and third-degree falsely reporting an incident.
Meeks was released under supervision and Vidal was released on his own recognizance. Each faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. They were ordered to return to court on Dec. 19.
According to the charges, Vidal conspired with Meeks by delivering his 2008 BMW X5 to Meeks with the understanding that he would then dispose of the vehicle. Meeks allegedly telephoned an undercover officer – who was posing as somebody who shipped cars overseas – on March 1 and told him that he had a 2008 BMW X5 to sell for $2,000. That evening, Meeks allegedly arrived in front of a house on 122nd Avenue in South Ozone Park driving a BMW X5, and the undercover officer handed Meeks $2,000 in cash in exchange for the BMW’s key. During the transaction, Meeks allegedly told the undercover that he would need the key returned to him so that the car owner could return it to the insurance company as evidence of the vehicle’s “stolen” nature. The vehicle was subsequently secured in police custody and the vehicle key was marked with a unique identifier before being returned to Meeks the following day.
Vidal allegedly reported that his vehicle had been stolen in Brooklyn sometime between March 1 and March 3. An insurance claim valued at more than $3,000 allegedly was filed with GEICO. As part of the claim, Vidal allegedly submitted a key to the BMW to the insurance company and that it contained the unique identifier that the police had previously placed on the key.
According to Brown, Meeks was additionally arraigned on a separate criminal complaint charging him with third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree insurance fraud, first-degree falsifying business records and fifth-degree conspiracy. Meeks, who faces up to an additional seven years in prison if convicted on these charges, was again ordered released under supervision and to return to court on Dec. 19.
In the second complaint, Brown noted, Meeks allegedly had two other similar telephone conversations with the undercover officer in March, in which Meeks separately stated that he had a vehicle to sell – in one instance, a 2015 Dodge Journey for $2,500 and in the other, a GMC Yukon for $3,000.In both cases, Meeks and the undercover allegedly met at prearranged Queens locations and completed their transactions. As before, it is alleged that in each instance Meeks told the undercover officer that he would need the vehicle key returned to him so that the car owner could make a false insurance claim for theft of the vehicle. And, just like the BMW, the vehicles were subsequently secured in police custody and the vehicle keys were each marked with a unique identifier before being returned to Meeks.
In both instances the registered owners of the vehicles falsely reported that their vehicles had been stolen in Brooklyn during a period of time when the vehicles were in possession of the NYPD. Insurance claims in excess of $3,000 were filed with GEICO for the Dodge and with Allstate for the GMC Yukon. GEICO paid out an amount in excess of $20,000 on the Dodge claim, and Allstate paid out an amount in excess of $10,000 on the Yukon claim.
In a third criminal complaint, Lance Dottin, 42, of Brooklyn, was arraigned last Thursday on charges of third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree insurance fraud, first-degree falsifying business records, fifth-degree conspiracy and third-degree falsely reporting an incident. Dottin was released under supervision and ordered to return to court on Feb. 1. If convicted, he, too, faces up to seven years in prison.
Dottin, the owner of the Journey, allegedly conspired with Meeks to commit insurance fraud and other crimes in connection with his vehicle. A check of the Journey’s registration information by police allegedly revealed that Lance had reported the vehicle stolen, claiming that he had last seen it on March 7 – six days after the NYPD took possession of it – and thereafter filed an insurance claim with GEICO.
