Attorney faces federal prison after admitting role in $23M auto insurance fraud

Jan. 06--A South Florida attorney is facing time in federal prison after he admitted his role in a $23 million auto insurance fraud linked to local chiropractors' clinics.

Jason Dalley, 54, who lives in Boca Raton and has a personal injury and criminal defense law firm in Delray Beach, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of conspiring to commit health care, mail and wire fraud.

Dalley admitted he was part of a profitable group of corrupt clinic owners, chiropractors and attorneys that operated mostly in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. The fraud raked in at least $23 million from 10 auto insurance companies between 2010 and 2017, according to court records.

The attorney admitted he paid illegal kickbacks of $2,000 to $2,500 to a Broward clinic operator, tow-truck drivers and other so-called "runners" who referred clients to him, court records show.

He filed auto insurance claims on behalf of clients and received payments from auto insurance companies, according to the plea agreement. Some of the details were unclear in court records but the payments appeared to be out-of-court settlements of claims on behalf of clients.

"[Dalley and others] discussed the policies of various automobile insurance carriers, including the insurance carriers with the strictest rules, and the means by which the fraud could be facilitated through those insurance companies," prosecutors Jeffrey Kaplan and Paul Schwartz wrote in court records.

Paula McMahon

One of the ringleaders of a massive $23 million auto insurance fraud pleaded guilty this week to his role in an elaborate crime ring that operated at

several South Florida chiropractic clinics.

Felix Filenger, who agents said drove around in a Bentley and doled out kickbacks from a suitcase stuffed...

One of the ringleaders of a massive $23 million auto insurance fraud pleaded guilty this week to his role in an elaborate crime ring that operated at several South Florida chiropractic clinics.

Felix Filenger, who agents said drove around in a Bentley and doled out kickbacks from a suitcase stuffed...

(Paula McMahon)

Dalley wrote more than $790,000 worth of checks from his law firm bank account to himself to pay the illegal kickbacks between 2012 and 2014, the plea agreement shows. He said he was involved in the fraud between 2012 and 2015.

Dalley, who is free on bond, is scheduled for sentencing March 16 in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. The maximum punishment is five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Federal prosecutors have estimated Dalley was linked to about $2 million worth of fraud and he would also have to pay restitution to the victims.

Phone messages left for Dalley and his attorney, Marc Nurik, on Friday were not returned. A woman who answered Dalley's phone said he had no comment.

The ringleaders of the fraud pleaded guilty last month to racketeering conspiracy charges.

Felix Filenger, 41, of Sunny Isles, and Andrew Rubinstein, 48, of Miami, admitted the fraud involved ripping off auto insurance providers by illegally billing for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance funds under Florida's no-fault law. Both men face up to 20 years in federal prison when they are sentenced.

Participants in the fraud admitted they paid kickbacks of $1,500 to $2,000 -- per patient -- to tow-truck drivers and body-shop workers who agreed to illegally steer accident victims to corrupt chiropractic clinics. Some of the "patients" were also steered to attorneys who told them they might be able to receive compensation from the insurance companies.

The kickbacks were paid to people who had access to confidential crash reports to refer drivers and passengers to the clinics and sign them up for unnecessary and excessive treatment, authorities said.

Dalley, who will face disbarment because of the felony conviction, was still listed as "eligible to practice" law by the Florida Bar late Friday. Records show he was disciplined twice, receiving an admonishment and a public reprimand, in 2009 and 2012.

[email protected], 954-356-4533 or Twitter @SentinelPaula

___

(c)2018 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.