Murder of Homeless Man Pay Fraudsters
Read the full article and see the video at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/true-crime-insurance-fraud-video-number-41-barry-zalma-esq-cfe and see the full video at https://rumble.com/vy96vo-true-crime-of-insurance-fraud-video-number-41.html and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4100 posts.
Posted on March 24, 2022 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at https://rumble.com/vy96vo-true-crime-of-insurance-fraud-video-number-41.html and at
Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE presents videos so you can learn how insurance fraud is perpetrated and what is necessary to deter or defeat insurance fraud. This Video Blog of True Crime Stories of Insurance Fraud with the names and places changed to protect the guilty are all based upon investigations conducted by me and fictionalized to create a learning environment for claims personnel, SIU investigators, insurers, police, and lawyers better understand insurance fraud and weapons that can be used to deter or defeat a fraudulent insurance claim.
What Happens When the Market Drops
George and Adam were partners. Their business, consulting with aerospace manufacturers on preparing the reports required by the Department of Defense, had been immensely successful. For the first five years of business their billings exceeded $3,000,000 a year.
They lived well. Like the average Americans they were, they spent every dollar they made and about 10% more than they made. They had no savings. They did have large credit card balances.
Because they knew how important each was to the success of the partnership, they purchased Key man life insurance policies with limits of $3,000,000 each from Trustme Life Insurance Company.
In 2008 the bottom fell out of the aerospace industry with the election of President Obama who cancelled space programs. Their customers stopped hiring consultants. The billings of the partnership shrank like Alice after she bit the mushroom.
A Plan to Profit From Murder
Adam called Fuzzy into Adam’s office at 8:00 that night. He asked Fuzzy to sit in his desk chair and shot him in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun at close range. Adam discharged one barrel on each hand to eliminated all of Fuzzy’s fingerprints.
Adam then placed his wallet with all its money, credit cards and other identification in the inside coat pocket of his old suit, removed anything that might identify Fuzzy as being someone other than Adam and then drove to the airport in George’s 750 IL BMW leaving the Jaguar in the garage. At the airport, Adam, using cash, purchased a ticket in the name of Adam Smith to New Orleans, Louisiana. He had already purchased, from street vendors on Hoover Street in Downtown Los Angeles a driver’s license in the name of Adam Smith with a birth date five years earlier than Adam’s true date of birth, a social security card, a MasterCard and Visa all issued in the name of Adam Smith.
The Crime Fails
Adam and George were arrested and tried for the murder of Fuzzy as well as several counts of insurance fraud. The testimony of the young lady, the presence of Adam and the Los Angeles Airport recording of George’s license plate on entry and exit from the airport parking lot made their defense impossible. They were convicted.
Adam and George are now spending the remainder of their lives in the State Penitentiary.
The insurer recovered $4,000,000 of the $6,000,000 (George and Adam had lived well for that year and a half) and paid the lustful young woman a $400,000 reward. She lived happily ever after.
(c) 2022 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders. He also serves as an arbitrator or mediator for insurance related disputes. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 54 years in the insurance business. He is available at http://www.zalma.com and [email protected].
Over the last 54 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created a library of books and other materials to make it possible for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance claims professionals.
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The Professional Claims Handler
Post 5218
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zalma-philosophy-claims-handling-part-8-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-zdwsc, see the full video at https://rumble.com/v70zl4s-the-zalma-philosophy-of-claims-handling-part-8.html and at https://youtu.be/MIYcF71ffRQ, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.
Claims Commandment X – Thou Shall Not Pretend to be a Lawyer
Some experienced and professional claims people know the law in their area of expertise better than most lawyers.
Adjusters should be adjusters and leave lawyering to lawyers. Similarly, lawyers should be lawyers and never try to be adjusters.
Claims Commandment XI – Thou Shall Empathize With the Claimant
Everyone presenting a claim is unhappy, disturbed, shocked, injured and needs help.
Empathy is identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives. It is the ability to understand another person’s circumstances, point of view, thoughts, and feelings....
HOW TO CREATE AN EXCELLENCE IN CLAIMS HANDLING PROGRAM
See the full video at https://rumble.com/v70wb2i-the-zalma-philosophy-of-claims-handling-part-6.html and at https://youtu.be/tL5nDKPEs40 and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.
Post 5217
This is a change from my normal blog postings. It is my attempt. in more than one post, to explain the need for professional claims representatives who comply with the basic custom and practice of the insurance industry.
An Excellence in Claims Handling program begins with a statement in the insurer’s claims manual or statement of professionalism that it is dedicated to providing excellence in claims handling to every insured who presents a claim.
The excellence in claims handling program should include, at a minimum:
A series of lectures supported by text materials explaining:
A definition of insurance.
How to read and understand an insurance policy.
How to interview an insured, witness, or claimant.
How to assist an insured in the insured’s obligation to ...
The Professional Claims Handler
Post 5216
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zalma-philosophy-claims-handling-part-5-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-jde8c, see the full video at https://rumble.com/v70q4x8-the-zalma-philosophy-of-claims-handling-part-5.html and at https://youtu.be/6b9tZQsEkB4, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.
This is a change from my normal blog postings. It is my attempt. in more than one post, to explain the need for professional claims representatives who comply with the basic custom and practice of the insurance industry.
Standards to be a Professional Claims Adjuster
The Insurance claims professional should be a person who:
1. Can read and understand the insurance policies issued by the insurer.
2. Understands the promises made by the policy.
3. Understand their obligation, as an insurer’s claims staff, to fulfill the promises made.
4. Are competent investigators.
5. Have empathy and recognize the difference between empathy and sympathy.
6. ...
The Professional Claims Handler
Post 5219
Posted on October 31, 2025 by Barry Zalma
An Insurance claims professionals should be a person who:
Can read and understand the insurance policies issued by the insurer.
Understands the promises made by the policy.
Understand their obligation, as an insurer’s claims staff, to fulfill the promises made.
Are competent investigators.
Have empathy and recognize the difference between empathy and sympathy.
Understand medicine relating to traumatic injuries and are sufficiently versed in tort law to deal with lawyers as equals.
Understand how to repair damage to real and personal property and the value of the repairs or the property.
Understand how to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement with the insured that is fair and reasonable to both the insured and the insurer.
How to Create Claims Professionals
To avoid fraudulent claims, claims of breach of contract, bad faith, punitive damages, unresolved losses, and to make a profit, insurers ...
The History Behind the Creation of a Claims Handling Expert
The Insurance Industry Needs to Implement Excellence in Claims Handling or Fail
Post 5210
This is a change from my normal blog postings. It is my attempt. in more than one post, to explain the need for professional claims representatives who comply with the basic custom and practice of the insurance industry. This statement of my philosophy on claims handling starts with my history as a claims adjuster, insurance defense and coverage lawyer and insurance claims handling expert.
My Training to be an Insurance Claims Adjuster
When I was discharged from the US Army in 1967 I was hired as an insurance adjuster trainee by a professional and well respected insurance company. The insurer took a chance on me because I had been an Army Intelligence Investigator for my three years in the military and could use that training and experience to be a basis to become a professional insurance adjuster.
I was initially sat at a desk reading a text-book on insurance ...
The History Behind the Creation of a Claims Handling Expert
The Insurance Industry Needs to Implement Excellence in Claims Handling or Fail
Post 5210
This is a change from my normal blog postings. It is my attempt. in more than one post, to explain the need for professional claims representatives who comply with the basic custom and practice of the insurance industry. This statement of my philosophy on claims handling starts with my history as a claims adjuster, insurance defense and coverage lawyer and insurance claims handling expert.
My Training to be an Insurance Claims Adjuster
When I was discharged from the US Army in 1967 I was hired as an insurance adjuster trainee by a professional and well respected insurance company. The insurer took a chance on me because I had been an Army Intelligence Investigator for my three years in the military and could use that training and experience to be a basis to become a professional insurance adjuster.
I was initially sat at a desk reading a text-book on insurance ...
