Christopher Iu, a former assistant prosecutor who became an aide to the state attorney generl, looks forward to a return to fighting crime
HOBOKEN -- The state's new insurance fraud prosecutor is a fan of the old Maxwell's who pays to park in a garage. And, yes, he does live in Hoboken.
Christopher Iu, a former Essex County assistant prosecutor who had been serving as a deputy chief of staff in the state attorney general's office, was named to the insurance post on Tuesday.
"Ive been itching to get back into prosecution," said Iu, 37, who acknowledged that he'll be fighting white collar crime this time around, not the violence more typical of his old job. "When I was in Essex, it was more guns, drugs and homicides."
As the fraud prosecutor, the 37-year-old Seton Hall Law School graduate oversees the investigation of all types of insurance fraud in New Jersey, whether involving automobile, property or health insurance offered by private carriers, or Medicaid. He supervises a staff of 125 lawyers, investigators, and support workers.
In an announcement of Iu's appointment to the $135,000 job on Wednesday, Attorney General John Hoffman said, "Chris brings great energy and a wealth of investigative and prosecutorial experience to this position."
"In addition, he has demonstrated his superior managerial skills by overseeing a number of important initiatives in the Office of the Attorney General," Hoffman added.
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Iu replaces Ron Chillemi, who is going into private practice after serving as the fraud prosecutor since 2011.
Iu, whose name is pronounced like the letter u, said one of his priorities is to raise awareness of the public cost of insurance fraud, which is sometimes misperceived as a victimless crime, particularly among people who resent paying for a product that is often intangible.
"People don't really understand that their premiums, theoretically, could go down but for the fraud," he said.
Iu grew up in Hasbrouck Heights and now lives at the northern end of Hoboken with his wife and young son, after first moving to the Mile-Square City 10 years ago.
He said about 25 minutes of his hour-and-fifteen-minute drive to Trenton every morning is spent battling traffic out of the Hoboken-Jersey City area. He parks his car in a garage.
"I feel the pain of Hoboken residents, having to pay for parking," he said. "But I tell you, in the winter, when it snows, there's nothing like pulling into your own parking spot."
Like many young professionals who move to Hoboken, Iu took full advantage of its thriving nightlife, counting the old Maxwell's among his favorite haunts. But family and work responsibilities have toned things down.
"I used to be a big fan of Hudson Tavern," he said of the 14th Street bar and restaurant. "But we don't get out much with the 5-year-old."
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
