A Group of Lawyers and Doctors Face Charges Over a $31 Million Trip-and-Fall Scheme
A racket in which corrupt lawyers and doctors generated over $20 million in lawsuit settlements by manipulating hundreds of homeless individuals and other desperate people to feign trip-and-fall accidents has been shut down with an indictment, authorities announced Wednesday.
Charges against two lawyers and two doctors in Manhattan federal court were unveiled by authorities who detailed a scam in which people allegedly agreed to undergo needless surgeries sometimes to boost the value of lawsuits seeking compensation for fake accidents.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said the defendants “preyed upon the most vulnerable members of society” to carry out a fraud that stretched from January 2013 through April 2018.
“The defendants abused their professional licenses and positions of trust to steal millions of dollars from New York City businesses and their insurance companies through a massive trip-and-fall fraud scheme,” she said in a release.
