Mercer Times

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced that New Jersey has secured over $500,000 from International Fidelity Insurance Company (IFIC) and its parent company, I.A.T. Insurance Group (IAT), to settle a whistleblower lawsuit. The suit accused the companies of improperly retaining funds belonging to New Jersey residents in violation of the New Jersey False Claims Act and the New Jersey Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.

The whistleblower, Anthony Manganiello, a former employee of IFIC, filed the lawsuit in 2022 on behalf of New Jersey and the United States. He alleged that between 2015 and 2021, IFIC and IAT withheld millions of dollars that should have been returned to the state's Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA).

Following an investigation, New Jersey found that some collateral was wrongly retained by the defendants instead of being turned over to the UPA. As a result, a settlement was reached for $575,964. The UPA received $383,976; Manganiello received $115,193 as his share; $57,596 went to the False Claims Prosecution Fund; and $19,198.60 was allocated to the State’s General Fund.

Defendants agreed to implement new procedures in their business practices to prevent future violations. Attorney General Platkin stated: “Fraud has no place in the bond business and a lack of transparency erodes the public’s trust.”

In addition to financial restitution and procedural changes, another significant outcome of this case was achieved when defendants' motion to keep the case under seal indefinitely was denied by the court. The court ruled that there was no privileged information in the complaint and ordered it unsealed.

Deputy Attorneys General Christina Garfield and Brian DeVito, along with Assistant Attorney General Lara Fogel represented New Jersey in this matter.

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