MORRIS COUNTY, NJ – Two New Jersey men have been sentenced to five years in state prison for separate high-value insurance fraud schemes, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.
Yoel Arencibia Cabrera, 42, of Elizabeth, received his sentence on June 13, 2025, after pleading guilty to second-degree insurance fraud. Investigators revealed that Cabrera paid Jesus Lopez, 46, of Lebanon, PA, to intentionally set fire to his 2023 Acura MDX on July 1, 2023. Cabrera then filed a false claim with Progressive Insurance, which flagged the case for fraud. Lopez, Cabrera’s alleged accomplice, is currently a fugitive, and charges against him remain pending.
In a separate case, Timaahd Barnes, 34, of Clementon, was sentenced on May 30, 2025, after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree theft by deception. Barnes, formerly employed as a remote claims adjuster for CSAA Insurance Group, embezzled nearly $391,000 by rerouting funds from legitimate claims into his own accounts between August and October 2022.
Barnes repeated the scheme at Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, diverting an additional $75,000 from August 2023 to April 2024. Authorities recovered $101,092 in funds from Barnes, which the court ordered to be split equally between the two victimized insurers.
Both convictions were secured by the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP), reinforcing the state’s efforts to aggressively pursue white-collar crime and protect policyholders from fraud.
