New York Car Accident

53 Charged In Largest-Ever Crackdown on No-Fault Automobile Insurance Fraud In New York-Defendants 

Although the accidents were intended to cause no real injury to the defendant drivers or passenger, the accident were reported to the police so that a record could be created to support the fraudulent insurance claims. The runners then directed the defendant passenger to clinics for bogus medical treatment, often driving the passenger there themselves. The clinics then submitted claims under the insurance policy of the runner so another ring member who had insured the car. The medical bills, which often reached $10,000-$20,000 per passenger, could go as high as $50,000 per passenger under New York law. The medical service for which the ring members sought payment from insurers were not necessary, and many such service were not actual provided at all. In addition, the claims for insurance were routinely inflated. Typically, the defendant passenger falsely claimed multiple injuries to various parts of their bodies in order to maximize their fraudulent claims. In addition, according to the complaint, the defendant passenger filed fraudulent lawsuit against insurance companies alleging bodily injury. Settlement of these lawsuits ranged from $3,500 to $22,000 per passenger.

Today’s arrest s included defendants at all levels of the scheme, specifically, 4 runners/ recruiters who staged the accidents (3 of whom also acted as drivers who caused the accidents), 6 additional drivers who caused the accidents, 7 owners of vehicles used in the accidents (including the 4 runners/recruiters), and 38 passengers who collected thousands of dollars on bogus bodily injury claims. The runners/recruiters are: FRANTZ MEVS,ROODY MOISE, BINSONN GUILLAUME and WALDON DESIR; MEVS, MOISE and GUILLAUME also acted as drivers in eight of the accidents. The other drivers charged in the scheme are: MASON ALEXANDRE, WILFRANTZ, ALIX ALTENOR, FRANTZ LAFLEUR, PIERRE SALTEMA, and VINCENT VIRGILE. The seven vehicles owners are: FRANTZ HILAIRE, MARTINE ROMAN and DANIEL RICHARD, as well as runner/ recruiters JEAN MAXON LUCIEN, GUILLAUME, DESIR and MOISE. JEAN MAXON LUCIEN, a runner/recruiter and leader of the scheme who participated in 11 staged accidents, was arrested previously on similar fraud charges.

Those arrested today also included RUSLAN ERLIKH and ALEXANDER LAKHTER, owner/managers of a medical clinic, formerly known as Medical Arts Rehabilitation and located at 26 Court Street in downtown Brooklyn, where several of the defendant passengers were treated, and SOFIYA NAZAROVA, a billing clerk at that clinic. During a search of the clinic on August 23, 2000, agents discovered evidence of kickback payments to runner/recruiters as well as fraudulent bills to insurance companies in which the unauthorized signature of doctors has been cut out from other documents and pasted onto the fake bills.

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