Zalma on Insurance
Education • Business
Insurance Claims professional presents articles and videos on insurance, insurance Claims and insurance law for insurance Claims adjusters, insurance professionals and insurance lawyers who wish to improve their skills and knowledge. Presented by an internationally recognized expert and author.
Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
April 18, 2022
True Crime of Insurance Fraud Video Number 56

Insurance Frauds Are Not Born, They Are Trained

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:6921812566495150081?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A6921812566495150081%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29 and see the full video at https://rumble.com/v11bte9-true-crime-of-insurance-fraud-video-number-56.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=2 and at

and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4150 posts.

Wee Willy never intended to be a criminal. His ambition in life, from age three, was to be a meat cutter like his dad. Willy cruised through high school with a solid “C” average. He knew that as a meat cutter he only needed a steady hand. Literature and mathematics held no interest for him.

As a child he would visit the store where his father worked and watch sides of beef turn into chops, steaks and hamburger with rapt attention. His father, he believed, was an artist who turned ugly chunks of dead animals into beautiful and delicious food. His ambition was to be the Picasso of meat cutters.

When Willy graduated from high school his father helped him join the meat cutters local as an apprentice. He began his career at a neighborhood Piggy Wiggly market. As an apprentice Willy was ordered about by the journeyman meat cutter. The duties of an apprentice included sweeping up the cuttings, collecting the excess fat so that it could be sold to the renderer, and lifting and carrying carcasses for the journeyman.

On slow days the journeyman would let Willy practice on the giant band saw. Willy was happy. Even as an apprentice meat cutter he was doing what he always wanted to do. He was learning his trade. He also could bring a few cuts of filet mignon to his girlfriend’s father. When her father was happy with Willy, his girlfriend was even more loving.

Willy had outfitted his house from the local Goodwill store. By the time his house was rebuilt, he had a brand new house worth twice as much as when he bought it, completely furnished with new furniture from quality stores. He immediately put the house on the market and made a $100,000 profit. With the money, he traded in his car and bought a brand new Corvette, a gold and diamond ring and a Rolex President with a diamond face. He gave his old Rolex to his father.

Life was good. Willy decided to go into business for himself. He would become a builder. He attended the contractor’s license school for one day and learned enough to pass the test and become a licensed contractor. Willy was in business for himself. He really didn’t need to work. He was going to use the contractor’s license to make more money off of insurance. Any construction job he did would be paid for completely by the insurance company.

Willy’s two domestic insurers were members of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and the ISO All Claims database; Lloyd’s was not.

When each insurer submitted their report of Willy’s robbery, the ISO and NICB advised both insurers of the other claim that appeared to be similar to their claim.Each insurer had in place a special fraud investigation unit (SIU). The SIU investigators contacted each other and found that the two claims were identical and based upon the same appraisals. Lloyd’s, through their independent investigators, also used the All Claims database and the adjusters for the three insurers shared information concerning Willy’s claim.

Within six months Willy fell off an oil tank and broke his leg in three places. Although it hurt a great deal, Willy was happy. He had workers’ compensation again and, with his disability insurance policies, his take home pay tripled.

He knew the leg would be slow to heal and he could enjoy a life of leisure paid for by all of the other stupid people who bought workers’ compensation insurance but did not benefit from it as did Willy.

(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 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].

Subscribe to Zalma on Insurance at locals.com https://zalmaoninsurance.local.com/subscribe.

Subscribe to Excellence in Claims Handling at https://barryzalma.substack.com/welcome.

Write to Mr. Zalma at [email protected]; http://www.zalma.com; http://zalma.com/blog; daily articles are published at https://zalma.substack.com.

Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma; Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/

Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
September 18, 2026
Expert May Only Testify to What Experience Supports

Insurance Expert May Not Testify to Speculative and Contains Unsupported Conclusions.

Posted on September 18, 2026 by Barry Zalma

See the full video at and at https://rumble.com/v7fmifw-expert-may-only-testify-to-what-experience-supports.html

In Michele A. Over, and The Estate Of Paul R. Over v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, Civil Action No. 23-cv-02243-PAB-STV, United States District Court, D. Colorado (September 14, 2026) Michele and Paul Over sued State Farm Fire and State Farm Auto over hail-damage and stolen-vehicle claims.

The operative dispute concerned State Farm Auto’s motion to exclude or limit opinions from plaintiffs’ insurance-industry expert, Aaron Castillo. Castillo.

Law

The proponent of expert testimony must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that an expert is qualified and that the opinions are helpful, sufficiently grounded, and reliably derived and applied. Experience-based opinions must explain how the...

00:03:10
September 17, 2026
Convicted on 29 Tax-Refund-Fraud Counts

150 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud
Post 4846

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Barry Zalma

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/g8rh3JBX and https://lnkd.in/gmkdy-9C, In United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, Nos. 25-10609, 25-10611, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (September 9, 2026) the Eleventh Circuit affirmed all challenged convictions, the 150-month aggregate sentence, and the challenged $4,123,474.55 restitution award.

FACTS

In United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, Nos. 25-10609, 25-10611, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (September 9, 2026) the Eleventh Circuit affirmed all challenged convictions, the 150-month aggregate sentence, and the challenged $4,123,474.55 restitution award.
FACTS

Thomas Addaquay controlled United Consolidated Accounting and Business Services (UC), nominally a check-cashing business.

The government proved a three-stage tax-refund scheme that converted the resulting refund checks into usable funds through ...

00:05:23
September 14, 2026
Court Enforces Fifth Amendment & Refuses to Compel Answers

Major Fraud Perpetrator Asserts Fifth Amendment Privilege to Avoid Prosecution

Post 5489

Posted on September 14, 2026 by Barry Zalma

Fraudster Refuses to Answer Questions About His Alleged Fraud

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gvicAMDr and at https://lnkd.in/gvicAMDr

In Great American Insurance Co. v. Gemstone Property Management, LLC, et al., No. 23-cv-9100 (LJL), United States District Court, S.D. New York (September 8, 2026) Great American Insurance Company alleged that it was defrauded through a scheme in which Subin Associates, LLP recruited individuals to stage construction-site injuries, arranged unnecessary medical treatment and litigation funding, and pursued fraudulent personal-injury claims.

Luis Manuel Garcia Salcedo, resulted in a $6 million settlement. Non-party Jose Hernandez allegedly worked as an assistant manager at Subin, operated Hernandez Associates, and owned litigation-funding companies that shared office space with Subin and provided services to its clients.

After Great American ...

00:05:14
September 25, 2026
Unwise for a Appellant to Represent Himself.

Inadequately Briefed Issues Defeats Appeal

Post 4852

Issues on Appeal Must be Adequately Briefed

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Barry Zalma

In Emy Ojekwe v. Connecticut Transit District Consortium, No. AC 47389, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (September 22, 2026) Emy Ojekwe alleged that he was injured on September 24, 2020, while leaving a bus operated by Connecticut Transit District Consortium, doing business as Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority.

According to his complaint, the wheelchair ramp began to rise before he had fully exited, causing his wheelchair to fall backward and allegedly injuring several parts of his body and damaging the wheelchair. The defendant denied negligence and alleged comparative negligence. After a two-day jury trial in November 2023, the jury returned a defense verdict.

The trial court denied Ojekwe’s motion to set aside the verdict and for a new trial, and he appealed.

LAW

A trial court’s refusal to set aside a verdict because of counsel’s improper remarks is reviewed for abuse of ...

post photo preview
September 25, 2026
Unwise for a Appellant to Represent Himself.

Inadequately Briefed Issues Defeats Appeal

Post 4852

Issues on Appeal Must be Adequately Briefed

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Barry Zalma

In Emy Ojekwe v. Connecticut Transit District Consortium, No. AC 47389, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (September 22, 2026) Emy Ojekwe alleged that he was injured on September 24, 2020, while leaving a bus operated by Connecticut Transit District Consortium, doing business as Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority.

According to his complaint, the wheelchair ramp began to rise before he had fully exited, causing his wheelchair to fall backward and allegedly injuring several parts of his body and damaging the wheelchair.

LAW

Refusal to set aside a verdict because of counsel’s improper remarks is reviewed for abuse of discretion.

Appellate claims receiving only cursory treatment, without record citations, supporting authority, or legal analysis, are inadequately briefed.

DISCUSSION

Improper opening remarks.

Defense counsel referred to Ojekwe’s national origin,...

September 24, 2026
Restitution Sentence Affirmed

Psychiatrist Who Was Convicted of Fraud Asked the First Circuit to Reduce his Punishment
Post 4851

Posted on September 24, 2026 by Barry Zalma

Fraud to Private and Public Health Insurers Doesn’t Pay

In United States v. Gustavo Kinrys, Nos. 24-1592, 24-1716, United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit (September 21, 2026) Gustavo Kinrys, a Massachusetts psychiatrist, submitted fraudulent claims to private and public health insurers from 2015 through 2018, including bills for more than 1,000 sessions when he or the purported patient was outside the country. When insurers requested supporting records, he delayed through a fictitious office manager and created false documentation.

A jury convicted Kinrys on fourteen counts. The district court imposed a 99-month sentence, calculated intended loss at slightly more than $19 million based on billed amounts, ordered $6,537,309.59 in restitution, and ordered $6,527,391.19 in forfeiture.

At sentencing, the district court calculated Kinrys’s base offense level to be ...

post photo preview
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals