Accident News

67 Named In Largest Automobile Accident Fraud Ring Ever Charged In New York

Superintendent Gregory V. Serio, along with Alan Vinegard, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Barry W. Mawn, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, Bernard B. Kerik, New York City Police Commissioner, and Edward J. Kuriansky, Commissioner, New York City Department of Investigation, today announced the filing of charges against 67 individuals involved in a large scale insurance fraud ring.

"Cases of this kind prove that greed knows no bounds. These insurance crooks are estimated to have stolen approximately $1 million and it is honest premium-paying consumers that end up paying the price through increased insurance costs" said Serio. Today’s arrests - the largest no-fault automobile accident fraud ring ever charged in New York State - send a clear message that you won’t make money by defrauding the insurance system. The New York State Insurance Department is in the business of dismantling these fraud rings and, working with other law enforcement agencies, we will win our fight against insurance fraud."

Criminal charges were filed against the following: Quentin Hawkins, also known as "Flint Hawkins," the leader of a ring operating in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn that either staged or fabricated at least 14 automobile accidents between February 1999 and July 2000; New York City Police Officer Rodney Hawkins, who was assigned until recently to the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, Garri Zhigun, the manager of Pacific Medical Service Center in Brooklyn (now known as Essential Medical Center), and 64 other defendants for their participation in a large-scale insurance fraud ring that filed bogus bodily injury and medical treatment claims under no-fault insurance policies.

The charges are the result of a 15-month multi-agency investigation into automobile accident insurance fraud and bribery in the New York City area. Based on the evidence reviewed to date, the fraudulent claims in this case exceed $1 million.
According to the complaint, Quentin Hawkins has by his own admission been staging accidents for more than twenty years. As a "front" for his staged accident business and other corrupt activities outlined in the complaint, including bribery of several city employees, Hawkins held himself out to be a private investigator operating in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The automobile accident fraud scheme charged today worked in two ways. In the first scenario, two cars generally driven by knowing participants in the scheme deliberately collided, and the drivers called the police who filed accident reports based on the false information provided to them. The complaint charges seven of these "staged accidents," and others are under investigation. In one such accident, claimed to have occurred on November 1, 1999, at the corner of Clarendon Road and East 39th Street in Brooklyn, Rodney Hawkins, a corrupt police officer from the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, allowed his own car to be used. There, two cars deliberately collided, but caused little damage. After inspecting the damage, the two drivers decided to collide again, and only then did they notify the police. Quentin Hawkins and his co-conspirators referred in telephone conversations to these staged accidents as "movies," and the cars slated for participation in these "movies" as "cans."

In the second scenario, Police Officer Rodney Hawkins fabricated accident reports for Quentin Hawkins in exchange for bribes. In these cases there is no evidence that the accidents were even staged. Seven accidents where Rodney Hawkins filed an accident report, involving a total of 37 people claiming to have been in the cars at the time of the "accidents," are charged in the complaint as having been fabricated for the purpose of fraud, and another four mentioned in the complaint are currently being investigated.

Integral to the success of the scheme was the participation of the supposed occupants of the cars involved in the fake accidents, 58 of whom are charged in today’s complaint. In all but one case, these occupants refused medical attention at the scene of the accident, but later claimed to have been injured in order to allow fraudulent billing to no-fault insurance carriers for "injuries" suffered.

After the accidents were alleged to have taken place, the defendants charged in the complaint as having participated in fraudulent accidents  whether staged or fabricated – went to one of several medical clinics, which paid Quentin Hawkins a cash fee per patient. The conspirators referred among themselves to the patients as "pineapples," and the clinics as "fruit stands," enabling them to discuss the delivery of pineapples to a fruit stand. Garri Zhigun, the manager of one such clinic, Pacific Medical Service Center, now known as Essential Medical Center ("Pacific"), is charged in the complaint with complicity in Hawkin’s scheme. Many of the defendants charged in today’s complaint sought "treatment" - ranging from chiropractic to acupuncture to psychiatry  at Pacific.

The passenger-defendants would claim soft tissue injury, which produces pain but no objective evidence. The clinics would prescribe additional forms of therapy for the "patients," including large amounts of durable medical equipment, and would bill the insurance carriers for the services and equipment. The multiple visits allowed the clinics to bill as much as possible per patient, typically between $5,000 to $25,000 per patient, up to the maximum of $50,000 allowed under state no-fault insurance law, and gave the accident participants a better chance to obtain a fraudulent personal injury settlement of litigation after they retained lawyers.

Some of the defendants were paid hundreds of dollars per accident by Quentin Hawkins, while others were promised the prospect of an insurance settlement at a later time for fraudulent "pain and suffering."
"Governor Pataki has directed the Insurance Department’s Frauds Bureau to work closely with law enforcement agencies to better marshal resources in our efforts to eliminate insurance fraud," added Serio. "Today’s arrests are representative of the success that comes from this type of collaboration of efforts. Working together we will win our fight against insurance fraud."

Contact our Utah Accident Lawyers if you have ever experienced a personal injury and think others are at fault for the accident.

	Did You Know?
	Speeding-Related Crashes Is Estimated To Be $40.4 Billion Per Year Speeding is one of the most common factors to traffic crashes. The economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is estimated by NHTSA to be $40.4 billion per year. In 2004, speeding was a contributing factor in 30% of all fatal crashes, and 13,192 lives were lost in speeding-related crashes.