Dozens charged in slip-and-fall fraud case
By Joseph A. Slobodzian, The Philadelphia Inquirer | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
A grand jury alleged that
In announcing the investigation, Williams said Gaber -- who was aware of the grand jury's work and pending fraud charges -- committed suicide
Gaber's death cast a pall over Williams' news conference detailing two years of work by a county investigating grand jury that heard from 20 witnesses, and examined about 360 documents and exhibits.
Williams said the probe showed that "my office will not give lawyers who commit white-collar crimes a free pass."
Moments later, Williams offered condolences to Gaber's family, including his wife and two young daughters.
Before Gaber's death, the grand jury recommended that prosecutors charge him with fraud, conspiracy, operating a corrupt organization, and related counts, Williams said. The 45 others face similar charges.
"This case itself was basically a small part of his practice, and we were preparing to defend this case at trial," Neff said.
"Unfortunately, he leaves behind a lovely wife and two young children who are saddled with this loss."
While the investigation was underway,
Neff said he had persuaded a judge to unfreeze some of Gaber's accounts, most containing money escrowed for legitimate accident claimants.
Assistant District Attorney
According to the 46-page grand jury presentment, in early 2010 the
Gaber allegedly hired "runners" for the scheme, people who got
It was the runner's job to find a victim -- sometimes a homeless person or low-level street criminal -- to fake or claim a slip-and-fall, go to a doctor or emergency room, and file a police report. The runner also acted as a "witness" to the fake accident.
Williams said all the injuries complained of were "soft-tissue injuries. None involved broken bones." Soft-tissue injuries are difficult to disprove because the pain is subjective and reported by the patient. Williams said no doctors were implicated in the scheme.
The grand jury said Gaber contacted the insurance company covering the property where the accident occurred and negotiated a settlement. He took 40 percent of the settlement as his fee, paid off any medical bills, and gave the rest to the purported victim, the panel said.
According to the grand jury presentment, Gaber's law office received 1,151 insurance-claim settlement checks, totaling almost
Montag said her office's Insurance Fraud Unit was helped by the insurance companies and the industry's
Montag said the investigation also got valuable help from city homeowners and neighborhood groups. One group in the 1900 block of
Montag said the cases of 22 of the 46 people charged in the fraud scheme have been resolved: 15 in guilty pleas, four in pretrial disposition programs for first-offenders, and three pending guilty pleas.
Arrest warrants are out for the remaining 23 defendants, Montag said.
215-854-2985 @joeslobo
CrimeandPunishment
___
(c)2014 The Philadelphia Inquirer
Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.philly.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 686 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News