$ 32 million scam: scammers recruited the poor to participate in 'accidents'

Three criminals have been sentenced to prison terms for a $ 31,7 million fraudulent scheme. They have recruited hundreds of people to deliberately participate in "accidents" in specific locations throughout New York. Writes about it Insurance Journal.

Multi-million dollar scheme

Three members of a scheme called Trip-And-Fall were sentenced to jail for deceiving New York-based businesses and their insurance companies for many years. In this dishonest way, they "earned" $ 31,7 million.

Bryan Duncan, Robert Locust and Ryan Rainford were convicted of their participation in the multi-million dollar scheme. Duncan was sentenced to 80 months in prison, Ryan Rainford to 68 months, Locust to 60 months.

This happened after these three were convicted on May 28, 2019 of participating in a conspiracy to commit mail and internet fraud.

Conspiracy partners Peter Kalkanis, a former chiropractor, and Kerry Gordon previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy. Kalkanis also pleaded guilty to identity theft under aggravating circumstances. Both of them have not yet been sentenced.

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"Brian Duncan, Robert Locust and Ryan Rainford were sentenced to long prison terms for their roles in a long-standing fraudulent scheme that was heartless and exploitative," said US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.

What exactly are the criminals accused of?

The scheme, which was organized by Duncan, Rainford and Locust, included the deception of enterprises and insurance companies. For this, fraudulent claims were used.

These three are accused of recruiting people to organize shell accidents; file fraudulent lawsuits against property owners where incidents occurred; referred "accident victims" to specific front clinics, and often even organized unnecessary operations for them.

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According to evidence, criminals ran such scams from 2013 to 2018. Participants in the scheme, including the three defendants, recruited hundreds of people to stage accidents at specific locations throughout New York.

The recruits were supposed to claim that they were injured as a result of these incidents. In particular, to claim the injuries of certain parts of the body, including the knees, shoulders and back. After the staged incidents, the “victims” were sent to specific lawyers who filed lawsuits against the owners of the businesses where the incident occurred and their insurance companies.

The lawsuits did not report that people fell deliberately, and in some cases did not fall at all. In addition, the “victims” were referred to specific chiropractors and other physicians who were involved in the scheme for medical care.

In some cases, recruited “victims” had to agree to surgical interventions that they did not need, thereby increasing the amount of compensation required in fraudulent claims. Medical procedures included discectomy, non-surgical epidural injections, and knee and shoulder surgery.

The hired “patients” were offered post-operative payments as an incentive to receive surgery, as well as a percentage of any payments for their claims. Patients usually underwent two operations and received from $ 1000 to $ 1500 after each of them.

The three accused, along with accomplices, tried to get at least $ 31,791 million from the victims of the company scheme.

Who were the victims of the scheme

Three of the defendants were recruited as “victims” of low incomes. In some cases, they even recruited people from homeless shelters in New York.

“The whole point of this conspiracy is to find the desperate, find the homeless,” said Judge Stein during the sentencing. - Not a single person who has a job and education and who can support a family at least minimally will say: "Oh, I will undergo unnecessary back surgery for a thousand dollars." These people were vulnerable and desperate. "

During the trial, more than 20 witnesses testified, including 11 dummy victims, who admitted that they had organized the "accidents" at the behest of Duncan, Locust, Rainford or other conspirators.

Duncan was one of the organizers and leaders of the scheme. He attracted the "victims" to participate in the program, organized their legal and medical examinations. He also assisted in obtaining funding for the treatment of recruited “patients”. Duncan and his partner Kerry Gordon, who founded their own case management and legal finance companies, have raised more than $ 1,5 million in fraud.

Locust and Rainford helped recruit “victims”, brought them to medical and legal consultations, identified potential accident sites, provided payments and briefed “victims”.