According to Caitlin Mota of Claims Journal, 43-year-old Harvey Nuila of East Rutherford, NJ and 28-year-old Charlie Serrano of Linden, NJ have been charged last month in connection with setting a luxury vehicle on fire for the purpose of collecting an insurance payout.
An investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office and the Jersey City Fire Department concluded that Nuila hired Serrano to set fire to his 2013 Audi on November 13th, 2016 while it was stationary on a Jersey City, NJ street. Hudson County Prosecutor, Esther Suarez noted that, “Police saw the vehicle ‘fully engulfed’ near Monmouth and 12th streets at about 1:20am.” Officials deemed the fire suspicious just two days following.
Nuila received approximately $1,000 in payments for the damage. However, it was unclear how much Serrano was paid for the arson of the Audi.
On February 1st, 2018, Nuila, accompanied by his attorney, turned himself in to the insurance fraud unit of the prosecutor’s office, and is subsequently charged with second-degree insurance fraud. On April 24th, 2018, Serrano also turned himself in and has since been charged with first-degree arson for hire and third-degree conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.