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Former manager pleads guilty to stealing millions from insurance brokerage

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Former manager pleads guilty to stealing millions from insurance brokerage

A former manager of a defunct New Jersey-based insurance brokerage pleaded guilty Monday to stealing millions of dollars from the company, according to New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa.

Kelly Roetto, 45, admitted stealing between $3.8 million and $5 million from the now-shuttered Florham Park, N.J.-based John A. Rocco Co. Inc. insurance brokerage while working as the company's controller, according to a statement from Mr. Chiesa's office. She was charged with theft, issuing bad checks and corporate misconduct.

In exchange for her guilty plea, which was entered in a Morris County, N.J., Superior Court on Monday, state prosecutors will recommend that Ms. Roetto be sentenced to nine years in prison and that she be barred from ever again obtaining a New Jersey insurance license.

“This defendant used her position of trust within this insurance brokerage firm to divert millions of dollars,” Mr. Chiesa said in the statement. “My office will continue to work with the insurance industry to root out corrupt insurance brokers.”

According to the attorney general's office, Ms. Roetto was responsible for arranging and facilitating financing for the brokerage's clients, as well as transferring the borrowed funds to insurance carriers. Between 2008 and 2010, Mr. Chiesa said Ms. Roetto took advantage of the complex transaction process to divert millions of dollars in payments to insurers, as well as to submit unauthorized requests for financing on behalf of nonexistent clients.

Additionally, Ms. Roetto was accused of writing more than $2 million in bad checks in the company's name.

“This crime attacked the integrity of our insurance system by deceiving both companies seeking insurance and companies that finance such insurance,” New Jersey's acting insurance fraud prosecutor, Ronald Chillemi, said in the statement. “Such crimes warrant vigorous prosecution and serious sanctions.”