A Morrisville woman has been charged by Bucks County Detectives with three felony theft offenses connected to reporting a diamond ring stolen that she allegedly returned to a store for reimbursement after filing an insurance claim.
Veronica Jakubowski, 25, was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Corryn L. Kronnagel late last month on felony counts of filing a false insurance claim, theft by deception and receiving stolen property and she was released on unsecured bail and is represented by Daniel J. Schatz, Esq. of Schatz & Stancu LLP.
According to investigators on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office received an insurance fraud referral from Erie Insurance Exchange. The referral alleges that on or about December 31, 2023, Jakubowski, filed a claim against her Erie Insurance Exchange renter’s policy for her diamond ring being stolen from her vehicle while at work. The address listed in the policy claim is 75 Brooks Avenue, Morrisville, according to police.
On Thursday, January 4, 2024, Erie Insurance Exchange settled the claim and paid Jakubowski $3,000. After the payout, it was learned that on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, she returned the diamond ring in question to the Macy’s at the Quaker Bridge Mall in New Jersey, said investigators in the probable cause.
A review of a stolen ring claim from Erie Insurance Exchange revealed that on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, Jakubowski filed a claim with Erie Insurance under her renter’s insurance policy for a diamond ring. The claim included information that the ring was stolen from the defendant’s vehicle while she worked at G&A Bagels in Butler, New Jersey. On January 4, 2024, Jakubowski completed a notarized Proof of Loss form. She indicated that the loss occurred on or about January 1, 2024.
The ring was valued at $11,000, she said in the claim.
Jakubowski advised authorities of the alleged ring theft, and provided a photograph of the purchase receipt for the diamond ring in question. The receipt showed that the ring was purchased on November 28, 2023 at Macy’s in the Quaker Bridge Mall, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The total cost was $6,952.00. She allegedly used multiple payment methods including credit cards and cash to make this purchase. One of those credit cards was a Mastercard credit card with the last four numbers of 7494, investigators said.
An Erie Insurance investigator conducted a follow-up with her employer early last year. The employer told police they were not aware of a ring being stolen from the vehicle while she was at work. The investigator conducted a follow-up with the Butler Police Department in New Jersey. No police report was found concerning the reported stolen ring from Jakubowski’s vehicle.
The Erie investigator then conducted a follow-up at the Quaker Bridge Mall Macy’s. The investigator showed a copy of the receipt provided by Jakubowski concerning the purchase of the ring in question to the jewelry department clerks. The clerks recalled selling the ring to the defendant and advised that she had returned the ring in question. The Erie investigator was provided with copies of the return transaction receipt. The receipt showed that the diamond ring was purchased on November 28, 2023, and was returned on January 31, 2024. The total amount refunded was $6,941.94. $5,971.15 was credited to the defendant’s Mastercard credit card with the last four numbers of 7484.
On Wednesday, May 29 of last year investigators followed up at the Quaker Bridge Mall Macy’s with the purchase receipt and return receipt for the diamond ring in question, which were confirmed to be true and correct copies of the originals.
In July investigators contacted the Butler Police Department in New Jersey. No records were found concerning the Jakubowski’s filing a theft from vehicle report. It was confirmed that her employer’s business is within their jurisdiction and that no other agency would have taken a theft report from that location.
Search warrants were obtained and served on Bank of America and Mastercard to identify the Mastercard account with the last four numbers of 7484. In November police received records from Bank of America that identified Jakubowski’s Mastercard credit card from Precision 1 Contractors. The records showed Jakubowski was an authorized user of the credit card in question. The records also showed a purchase of $2,908 on November 28, 2023, at Macy’s Quaker Bridge, Lawrenceville NJ. On January 31, 2024, the same account showed a $5,971.15 credit from Macy’s Quaker Bridge Mall, the criminal complaint alleges.
In November, police spoke with the owner of Precision 1 Contractors. Jakubowski is his cousin’s daughter.
Jakubowski worked for his company for a year and a half until November of 2023. She was terminated when it was discovered she was using the company’s credit card for personal use at the Mall, police said. The company’s owner said Jakubowski told him her personal credit card was at its limit, and she used the company card for the remaining balance of the diamond ring. The owner reported she did eventually return the ring and Macy’s credited the company’s Bank of America account for $5971.15. This was $3,065.15 more than what was originally charged to the card. The owner told police he wrote a check to the department for the difference.
Jakubowski is scheduled for a April 8 court date to answer to the charges.
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