Zalma on Insurance
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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.
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May 18, 2022
True Crime of Insurance Fraud Video Number 75

I Don’t Need Your Stinkin’ License!

Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gi3WNR7z and see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gxkzvNE5 and at https://lnkd.in/gF2MRUks and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4200 posts.

Yuri Gasparov was 19 years old when he entered the United States from the old Soviet Republic of Georgia. Although still a teenager he was strong of will and body. In the old Soviet Georgia he had made his mark as a thief, extortionist and enforcer. Yuri was 13 years old when he first killed a man who refused to pay half his earnings to the group Gasparov joined when he was 11.

When the Soviet Union fell, he emigrated to the U.S. He saw the U.S., unlike the new Georgian Republic, as a place of opportunity for his criminal skills.

Gasparov arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on an immigrant’s Visa claiming to be a persecuted Russian Jew. He was unusual as an immigrant. There were gold bars weighing ten Kilograms and 30 carats of “D” to “H” color diamonds in his luggage. Yuri stepped off an Al Italia jet from the First Class Cabin wearing an English suit cut by a Saville Row tailor, a Gold Rolex President watch and Italian alligator leather shoes.

As he waited in the “Nothing to Declare” line at the Bradley International Terminal women in the line openly stared. They saw a handsome young man with long black hair, green eyes, an aquiline nose and a neatly trimmed Van Dyke beard. They assumed he was an Italian Actor come to try his hand at Hollywood.

A limousine was waiting to pick him up at the curb. The chauffeur held the door for him as he entered the long, white, stretched Lincoln Town Car welcoming him to the U.S. in Russian.

Yuri Gasparov had convinced the boss in Georgia that it was necessary to use the American system to make profit and leave the violent tried and true methods of making a criminal profit perfected in the old Republic of Georgia. The American system of civil justice was open to the devious, the criminal and the unethical for instant wealth.

What he did not know, basking in all the accouterments of immediate success, that knowledge of the law or how to practice law, was irrelevant to his success. All that was required of Casparian was to hang his license on the wall and wait for the profits to roll in.

Casparian did not know — or refused to learn — that his “clients” were not injured, that they never received medical treatment and that most had never been involved in an accident. Casparian convinced himself that he had achieved the American dream and was the most successful new lawyer in the state of California.

Within weeks new clients’ cases were flowing into the Casparian law firm at three times the rate as the first year of business. The three doctors were, by their billing, treating over sixty patients a day. Medical bills were forwarded to the Casparian law firm on behalf of its clients of more than $100,000 a day.

Profits increased exponentially. Casparian, sitting in his office spent most of his time watching daytime soap operas on the office television. The secretarial staff and the staff of adjusters worked 10 hours a day negotiating hundreds of claims a day. Everyone in the Casparian law firm was happy and Gasparov had purchased, for cash, a four bedroom house in Brentwood.

The staffs of the various SIUs worked together to create a database of claims from the Casparian law firm. It found that the doctors, by their billing records, were billing for more than 80 hours of work a day. Auto accident victims, although never to the same insurer twice, were involved in more than fifteen accidents a month.

The information was taken to the Major Fraud Division of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. In a task-force with the Fraud Division, California Department of Insurance and the Los Angeles Police Department, search warrants were issued for the files of the law office and the offices of the three doctors. Records were gathered and collated. Four months later arrest warrants were issued for Casparian, the three doctors and each “adjuster” in the law firm.

Gasparov, the instigator and receiver of the profits, sold his house in Brentwood when the search warrants were issued, moved to Fresno, and started an office with a lawyer who had immigrated from Kazakstan.

Gasparov’s new law office in Fresno is a great success. His position in the criminal organization has improved and he is now only third in line behind the boss in Georgia.

Without the benefit of, education, training or a license Yuri Gasparov made more money from the practice of law in California than 99 percent of the lawyers in the state and continues to earn more than any lawyer practicing in Fresno, California.
ZALMA OPINION

The insurance industry’s need to deal fairly and in good faith with everyone presenting a claim made them vulnerable to an intelligent and immoral criminal. A group of good investigators stopped the fraud only to have the courts hand out minimal sentences and allowed the instigator of the fraud to escape and proceed with his criminal pursuits elsewhere. It is time that the courts truly punish those involved in insurance fraud.

(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].

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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/

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11 hours ago
No Coverage for Intentional Acts

When Harm is Inherent in the Nature of the Act it is Intentional

Post 5237

See the video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.

No Coverage for Intentional Acts

Hitting a Person in the Face is an Intentional Act

In Unitrin Auto and Home Insurance Company v. Brian C. Sullivan, et al., George A. Ciminello, No. 2022-01607, Index No. 21632/14, Supreme Court of New York, Second Department (November 19, 2025) George A. Ciminello was injured when struck in the face by a cup filled with liquid, thrown from a moving vehicle operated by Brian C. Sullivan, with Robert Harford as the passenger who threw the cup. The vehicle approached Ciminello at about 30 mph, from 2 to 10 feet away, and Harford extended his arm to make contact. The cup splintered upon impact.

Sullivan and Harford later conceded liability on the intentional tort claim before a damages trial.

Insurance Policy:

Unitrin Auto and Home...

00:06:53
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December 04, 2025
Unmitigated Gall to Abuse an Elderly Bishop and His Church

Obtaining Title to Church by Fraud Defeated

Post 5238

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unmitigated-gall-abuse-elderly-bishop-his-church-zalma-esq-cfe-xcasc, see the video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.

It is Villainous to Steal Church Property from Sick and Elderly Bishop

In Testimonial Cathedral Local Church of God in Christ v. EquityKey Real Estate Option, LLC et al. (Cal. Ct. App., 2d Dist., Div. 8, No. B331522 (Nov. 18, 2025) EquityKey (through broker Steven Sharpe and Frank Wheaton, a trusted advisor/friend of elderly Bishop Jimmy Hackworth) presented a deal supposedly for a $4 million life-insurance policy on Hackworth’s life with EquityKey as beneficiary. In exchange, EquityKey paid Hackworth $400,000 upfront.
Factual Background

To qualify Hackworth for the large policy, church real property on South Western Ave., Los Angeles was temporarily ...

00:10:28
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December 03, 2025
Soldier Sentenced for Nigerian Romance Fraud

Guilty of Money Laundering Scheme
Post 5238

See the video at https://lnkd.in/gqh7V46x and at https://lnkd.in/gmE-zrDC and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.

Prison Sentence for Fraud Must be Limited to the Fraud in Which the Defendant Participated

In United States v. Stephen O. Anagor, No. 2:24-CR-00019-DCLC-CRW (E.D. Tenn., Nov. 26, 2025) by Judge Clifton L. Corker the government sought to increase the defendant’s sentence because his co-conspirators added a fraudulent FBI scam that resulted in the victim’s suicide. Anagor sought a lower sentence because he was only involved in part of the fraud.

Charges & Plea

Defendant, a U.S. Army soldier pled guilty on June 11, 2025 to Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Stalking Resulting in Death and Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Identity Theft that was part of a larger 38-count superseding indictment against Anagor and co-defendants Chinagorom Onwumere and Salma Abdalkareem for an international Nigerian-based ...

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October 31, 2025
The Zalma Philosophy of Claims Handling – Part 9

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 ...

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October 20, 2025
The Zalma Philosophy of Claims Handling – Part I

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 ...

post photo preview
October 20, 2025
The Zalma Philosophy of Claims Handling – Part I

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 ...

post photo preview
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