FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caitlin Mota
PHONE: (201) 577-6699
EMAIL: cmota@hcpo.org
DATE: Tuesday, August 30, 2022

JERSEY CITY POLICE DETECTIVE CHARGED WITH FORGERY

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Tuesday, August 30, 2022, a Jersey City Police Detective was arrested on charges relating to a forged insurance document he submitted to a private company.

Joel Chaviano, 48, is charged with one count of Forgery in violation of N.J.SA. 2C:21-1a(3), a crime of the fourth degree. He was arrested without incident at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Jersey City and released on a summons pending his first court appearance on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.

An investigation by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Public Integrity and Insurance Fraud Units determined Chaviano submitted a forged Certificate of Liability to a private company in an attempt to secure a security contract for a business he is associated with. The charges are unrelated to his position with the Jersey City Police Department. The case was referred to the HCPO by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.

The above charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6)