Charles Kelcy Pegler Sr., former president of Roof Diagnostics Inc. in Monmouth County, NJ has pleaded guilty last month to third-degree insurance fraud after being charged in a December 2013 state grand jury indictment.
Pegler provided false and misleading information to Roof Diagnostics Inc.’s workers’ compensation carrier, New Jersey Casualty Insurance Company, a subsidiary of New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, to get out of paying the full amount in required insurance premiums. Authorities at The New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor reported that he paid $265,044 less than he should have from June 2003 to October 2009, according to Insurance Journal.
Pegler admitted that he lied to the carrier by stating that “his company was not a roofing company, that it did not employ roofers and that it did not install, maintain and/or repair roofs.”
On top of Pegler’s workers’ compensation wrongdoings, he went on to admit that in 2009, he told USF Insurance Company (now Atain Insurance Company) that all of his company’s roofing services were completed by subcontractors. This lie helped him avoid general liability insurance premiums totaling $134,087.
Full restitution has been paid to New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company. However, under Pegler’s plea deal, he is ordered to pay $134,087 to Atain Insurance Company and the state will recommend a sentence in June of 180 days in county jail and five years probation.