New York's legal and insurance systems have long been fertile ground for exploitation, but recent revelations from a court filing by Tradesman Insurance provides an inside look at how a sophisticated construction accident fraud scheme has allegedly operated. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants- comprised of corrupt runner-claimants, attorneys, medical providers, and litigation funders- are orchestrating a wide-ranging criminal enterprise to stage construction accidents. From these false accidents the defendants file fraudulent claims, and reap millions of dollars in settlements, workers' compensation benefits, and litigation funding. This article explores the details of how this criminal enterprise operates.

Step One: Recruitment of Claimants
The defendants, including "runner" claimants and complicit attorneys, target construction workers, offering financial incentives to participate in staged accidents at pre-meditated, targeted construction sites. The runners are pivotal in recruiting and grooming workers to fake accidents and claim false injuries. Often, the workers are down on their luck or a vulnerable segment of our society desperate for money to make ends meet. In some cases, the runners act as claimants themselves, staging accidents and claiming manufactured injuries of their own.

Reprinted courtesy of Tracy Abatemarco, Wood Smith Henning Berman and Amy Curley, Wood Smith Henning Berman

Ms. Abatemarco may be contacted at tabatemarco@wshblaw.com
Ms. Curley may be contacted at acurley@wshblaw.com