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NJ Man Sentenced for Torching Car in Insurance Scam; Another Jailed for $465K Fraud Scheme
Defendants from Elizabeth and Clementon convicted in schemes involving arson and embezzlement totaling nearly half a million dollars
TRENTON, N.J. – Two individuals have been sentenced to prison in separate insurance fraud cases prosecuted by the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP), Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.
“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.”
Yoel Arencibia Cabrera, 42, of Elizabeth, was sentenced to five years in state prison on June 13, 2025, following his guilty plea to second-degree insurance fraud. According to investigators, Cabrera orchestrated an arson scheme involving his 2023 Acura MDX. On July 1, 2023, Cabrera paid co-defendant Jesus Lopez, 46, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, to set the vehicle ablaze. Cabrera subsequently filed a fraudulent insurance claim with Progressive Insurance, which flagged the incident for investigation. Lopez remains a fugitive; charges against him are pending and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
In a separate case, Timaahd Barnes, 34, of Clementon, was sentenced to five years in state prison on May 30, 2025, for orchestrating an internal embezzlement scheme. While employed as a remote claims adjuster for CSAA Insurance Group, Barnes illegally diverted funds from valid claims to himself on approximately 70 occasions between August and October 2022, totaling $390,851. Barnes later executed a similar scheme at Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, diverting over $75,000 between August 2023 and April 2024. He pled guilty to two counts of second-degree theft by deception.
“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.”
As part of the sentence, the court ordered $101,092 in seized funds from Barnes to be split evenly between the two affected insurers—$50,546 to CSAA and $50,546 to Reliance Standard.
The OIFP investigates and prosecutes complex insurance fraud schemes statewide and encourages the public to report suspected fraud via a toll-free hotline (1-877-55-FRAUD) or through its website, www.NJInsurancefraud.org. Anonymous tips are accepted, and rewards may be available for actionable information leading to a conviction.
