Twenty-seven people were arrested this week for allegedly taking part in a massive $18 million medical insurance fraud scheme, which included bribing 911 operators, medical personnel, and police officers for the confidential information of over 60,000 motor vehicle accident victims.
According to the US Attorney's Office, five 911 operators (four of whom were active employees at the time of arrest) and NYPD officer Yaniris Deleon were some of the linchpins of the scheme. They are accused of providing confidential information about car crash victims to people who allegedly committed medical insurance fraud in exchange for kickbacks.
Those six, plus other hospital employees and members of the scheme, would exploit "no fault insurance" laws (which require a driver’s automobile insurance company to pay insurance claims automatically for certain types of motor vehicle accidents) and send victims’ contact information to a fraudulent “call center" based out of Queens. People from these call centers would then call victims and encourage them to seek medical treatment at clinics and law firms handpicked by the scheme's alleged ringleader, 51-year-old Anthony Rose. Prosecutors say that Rose paid the lead sources as much as $4,000 per month, and was then paid by the call center for over 6,000 referrals made throughout the scheme.
Rose allegedly instructed the call center workers to target victims from low-income neighborhoods because in his view, these people could be more easily brought into the scam. Rose, who allegedly ran the ring from at least 2014 to November 2019, told the call center workers not to target victims in Manhattan because “those people got attorneys," prosecutors allege.
"The nature of this fraud and bribery results in higher insurance premiums and unnecessary medical costs which impacts us all," said Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino. "Hopefully, this prosecution will act as a deterrent to those who seek to profit illegally by gaming the system."
