Sandipkumar Patel admitted to falsely claiming he had temporarily sheltered victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Sandipkumar Patel (Courtesy of NJ Attorney General's office)TRENTON -- An Ocean County motel owner pleaded guilty Monday to stealing federal disaster relief funds by falsely claiming he had sheltered Hurricane Sandy victims.
Sandipkumar Patel, of Edison, admitted to a second-degree charge of theft by deception for fraudulently taking $81,567 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's program that paid hotels and motels for rooms temporarily occupied by victims.
Patel, 43, and his wife own American Motel on Route 166 in Toms River. The federal program paid the motel $133.28 per day for each room, the state Attorney General's office said.
Patel falsely billed FEMA for 11 supposed victims, eight of whom never stayed at the motel and three of whom stayed for shorter periods than were billed or shared a room that Patel had already billed to FEMA, authorities said.
Patel sometimes fraudulently billed for stays lasting weeks or months, and more than $50,000 worth of the bills were in the names of his relatives who were not displaced by Sandy, according to authorities.
"This FEMA program enabled motel owners to shelter Sandy victims while still collecting a reasonable room rate, but Patel was more interested in stealing relief funds than helping victims," Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a press release. "We'll continue our aggressive efforts to prosecute greedy individuals like Patel who committed fraud and diverted relief funds from deserving recipients."
The state plans to recommend a three-year state prison sentence. Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels, who accepted Patel's guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for Nov. 4.
Patel's lawyer, Robert Stahl, said his client had acknowledged overcharging the government during Sandy relief.
"He's acknowledged his responsibility, and he's already made full restitution for the dollar amount," Stahl said.
The state has filed criminal charges against 71 people since March 2014 for allegedly falsely applying for federal Sandy relief funds. Most cases allege those people tried to steal funds from FEMA, but others claim individuals fraudulently applied for funds from other state and federal agencies.
The state Division of Criminal Justice operates a toll-free tip line for confidential reports of fraud, corruption and other illegal activities: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. People can also report suspected wrongdoing at www.njdcj.org.
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