The Resource For Insurance Fraud Professionals
Barry Zalma
Jan 2, 2024
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter January 2, 2024 https://lnkd.in/gJEmnVdZ
ZIFL – 01-0-2024 – Volume 28, Issue 1
This, the First issue of the 28th year of publication Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter provides multiple articles on how to deal with insurance fraud in the United States.
Happy New Year
See the full video at Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter and
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 25th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/
FREE subscriptions are provided to clients and friends of Barry Zalma, Inc., clients of ClaimSchool, Inc.
Please feel free to forward ZIFL to anyone you know engaged in the efforts to reduce fraud. If you want to be on the free mailing list as a subscriber to ZIFL please connect and subscribe below. If you want to be removed from the list click on the link at the end of the notice that the new edition of ZIFL is available and your subscription will be deleted. ZIFL will be posted for a full month in pdf and full color and in text format.
The comments made in each issue of ZIFL are for information only and are not intended as legal advice.
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Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter January 2, 2024
The Resource for the Insurance Claims and Insurance Fraud Professionals
False Swearing & Insurance Fraud
In common language the “false swearing” provision of an insurance policy merely means that if the insured lies under oath the policy is void whether the lie is in a proof of loss or at an examination under oath. In Texas and Oklahoma, false swearing is explained this way: where an insured knowingly and willfully overestimates the value of property destroyed or damaged, the policy is voided and the insured’s right to recover is defeated.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
More McClenny Moseley & Associates Issues
This is ZIFL’s twenty first installment of the saga of McClenny, Moseley & Associates and its problems with the federal courts in the State of Louisiana and what appears to be an effort to profit from what some Magistrate and District judges indicate may be criminal conduct to profit from insurance claims relating to hurricane damage to the public of the state of Louisiana.
Louisiana State Police Open Criminal Investigation Into McClenny Moseley
Louisiana State Police have opened a criminal investigation into efforts by McClenny Moseley & Associates and Apex Roofing to solicit customers after receiving a complaint by the state Insurance Department about “suspected fraudulent actions” related to insurance claims.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Waiver of Right to Appeal Effective
Insurance Agent Defrauded Clients by Taking Premium Money and Keeping it for Personal Expenses
When a criminal defendant’s valid guilty plea includes a waiver of the right to appeal, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals generally enforces the waiver by dismissing any subsequent appeal that raises issues within the scope of the waiver.
However, even if an appeal waiver is valid and applicable, the Fourth Circuit will review a claim that a district court’s sentence or restitution order exceeded the court’s statutory authority. In United States Of America v. Glenda Taylor-Sanders, Nos. 21-4136, 20-4604, United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit (December 12, 2023) the Defendant sought a change of the sentence and restitution order.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Now Available The Compact Book of Adjusting Property Claims – Fourth Edition
On January 2, 2024, in Kindle, paperback and hardback formats, The Compact Book of Adjusting Property Claims, Fourth Edition is now available for purchase here and here. The Fourth Edition contains updates and clarifications from the first three editions plus additional material for the working adjuster and the insurance coverage lawyer.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Fictionalized True Crime
The Largest Residential Burglary of All Time
This is a Fictionalized True Crime Stories of Insurance Fraud from an Expert who explains why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story is designed to help Everyone to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Those who Buy Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the Perpetrators than any Other Crime.
After twelve months trying to get insurance on over $3,000,000 in jewelry and a like amount of fine arts, a Taiwanese man who was a wanted criminal in his own country convinced two American insurers to agree to insure him against the risk of loss to the contents of his home.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Health Insurance Fraud Convictions
Guilty Verdict of Physician Who Subjected Patients to Unnecessary and Invasive Tests
Payam Toobian, M.D. Paid Kickbacks to Physicians for Patient Referrals and Defrauded Medicaid by Subjecting Patients to Unnecessary Radiological Tests.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Fraudster Must Serve Time and Lose His Residence to Pay Restitution
Armando Valdes appealed his 60-month sentence for health care fraud after he pleaded guilty. Valdes’s conviction and sentence arose out of his scheme to submit millions of dollars in fraudulent medical claims to United Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield for intravenous infusions of Infliximab, an expensive immunosuppressive drug. These infusions, purportedly given to patients at Valdes’s medical clinic, Gasiel Medical Services (“Gasiel”), were either not provided or were medically unnecessary.
In United States Of America v. Armando Valdes, No. 22-12837, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (December 19, 2023) the Eleventh Circuit disposed of the arguments asserted by Valdes.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Other Insurance Fraud Convictions
Prison Sentences In Multi-Million Dollar Insurance Fraud; Returns $7.75M to NYSIF
SADAF BHATTI, 40 and his company, ANAAR CONSTRUCTION & CONTRACTING CORP., pleaded guilty November 2, 2023, in New York State Supreme Court to Insurance Fraud in the First Degree for their role in Certified Public Accountant STEVEN LYON’s scheme to defraud the New York State Insurance Fund (“NYSIF”) of more than $18 million. BHATTI was sentenced to 1-to-3 years in state prison and ANAAR CONSTRUCTION & CONTRACTING CORP. was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
The Role of the Insurer’s Attorney After Ending the EUO
A well-executed Examination Under Oath (EUO) is not only one of the insurer’s most effective weapons against fraud. It can also be highly instructive for the adjuster. If an attorney is responsible for performing the examination, the adjuster must make clear that it is his or her obligation to provide sufficient factual information supported by legal authority for the insurer to make a decision on the claim.
The adjuster should also, if possible, attend the EUO to help the attorney and to study questioning techniques. Attorneys, whose job it is to ask questions, will usually do a more thorough job of EUO than will insurance claims staff.
After the EUO, the attorney will usually suggest additional investigation and can also give the adjuster legal advice as to the insurer’s rights, duties, and obligations.
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Barry Zalma
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] and read the full 21 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/11/ZIFL-12-01-2023-1.pdf
Read the full 22 pages of this issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/12/ZIFL-01-01-2024-1.pdf
Barry Zalma, Inc., 4441 Sepulveda Boulevard, CULVER CITY CA 90230-4847, 310-390-4455; 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. Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barry-zalma/support Write to Mr. Zalma at [email protected]; http://www.zalma.com; http://zalma.com/blog; I publish daily articles at https://zalma.substack.com, 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 the Insurance Claims Library – https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ to consider more than 50 volumes written by Barry Zalma on insurance and insurance claims handling.
Go to Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter at https://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/ 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/ and GTTR at https://gettr.com/@zalma
Read the full article and the full ZIFL at http://zalma.com/.../uploads/2023/08/ZIFL-08-15-2023-1.pdf
Legal Disclaimer:
The author and publisher disclaim any liability, loss, or risk incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this web site. The information provided is not a substitute for the advice of a competent insurance, legal, or other professional. The Information provided at this site should not be relied on as legal advice. Legal advice cannot be given without full consideration of all relevant information relating to an individual situation. If you desire consultation you may retain the services of Mr. Zalma after signing an engagement letter.
Posted on January 2, 2026 by Barry Zalma
ZIFL – Volume 30 Number 1
THE SOURCE FOR THE INSURANCE FRAUD PROFESSIONAL
See the video at https://rumble.com/v73nifg-zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-january-2-2026.html and at https://youtu.be/vZC1e-_qwDg
Supreme Court of Louisiana Removes Judge
Judge Who Lied to Get Elected Cannot Serve
In In Re: Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts, No. 2025-O-01127, Supreme Court of Louisiana (December 11, 2025) the Louisiana Supreme Court in an opinion by Chief Justice Weimer dealt with the recommendation of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana (Commission) that Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts be removed from office for:
1. making false and misleading statements regarding her judicial campaigns;
2. making false and misleading statements to police investigating the reported burglary of her car; and
3. withholding information and providing false, incomplete, or misleading information during the investigation by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), as well as in the proceedings before the Commission....
Montana County Attorney Admits to Insurance Fraud & Is Only Suspended from Practice for 60 Days
Post 5251
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gnBaCjmv, see the video at https://lnkd.in/gfpVsyAd and at https://lnkd.in/gC73Nd8z, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
A Lawyer Who Commits Insurance Fraud and Pleas to a Lower Charge Only Suspended
In The Matter Of: Naomi R. Leisz, Attorney at Law, No. PR 25-0150, Supreme Court of Montana (December 23, 2025) the Montana Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) filed a formal disciplinary complaint with the Commission on Practice (Commission) against Montana attorney Naomi R. Leisz.
On September 25, 2025, Leisz tendered a conditional admission and affidavit of consent. Leisz acknowledged the material facts of the complaint were true and she had violated the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct as alleged by ODC.
ADMISSIONS
Leisz admitted that in April 2022, her minor son was involved in a car accident in which he hit a power pole. Leisz’s son ...
Montana County Attorney Admits to Insurance Fraud & Is Only Suspended from Practice for 60 Days
Post 5251
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gnBaCjmv, see the video at https://lnkd.in/gfpVsyAd and at https://lnkd.in/gC73Nd8z, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
A Lawyer Who Commits Insurance Fraud and Pleas to a Lower Charge Only Suspended
In The Matter Of: Naomi R. Leisz, Attorney at Law, No. PR 25-0150, Supreme Court of Montana (December 23, 2025) the Montana Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) filed a formal disciplinary complaint with the Commission on Practice (Commission) against Montana attorney Naomi R. Leisz.
On September 25, 2025, Leisz tendered a conditional admission and affidavit of consent. Leisz acknowledged the material facts of the complaint were true and she had violated the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct as alleged by ODC.
ADMISSIONS
Leisz admitted that in April 2022, her minor son was involved in a car accident in which he hit a power pole. Leisz’s son ...
Court Must Follow Judicial Precedent
Post 5252
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sudden-opposite-gradual-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-h7qmc, see the video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
Insurance Policy Interpretation Requires Application of the Judicial Construction Doctrine
In Montrose Chemical Corporation Of California v. The Superior Court Of Los Angeles County, Canadian Universal Insurance Company, Inc., et al., B335073, Court of Appeal, 337 Cal.Rptr.3d 222 (9/30/2025) the Court of Appeal refused to allow extrinsic evidence to interpret the word “sudden” in qualified pollution exclusions (QPEs) as including gradual but unexpected pollution. The court held that, under controlling California appellate precedent, the term “sudden” in these standard-form exclusions unambiguously includes a temporal element (abruptness) and cannot reasonably be construed to mean ...
Lack of Jurisdiction Defeats Suit for Defamation
Post 5250
Posted on December 29, 2025 by Barry Zalma
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He Who Represents Himself in a Lawsuit has a Fool for a Client
In Pankaj Merchia v. United Healthcare Services, Inc., Civil Action No. 24-2700 (RC), United States District Court, District of Columbia (December 22, 2025)
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Parties & Claims:
The plaintiff, Pankaj Merchia, is a physician, scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur, proceeding pro se. Merchia sued United Healthcare Services, Inc., a Minnesota-based medical insurance company, for defamation and related claims. The core allegation is that United Healthcare falsely accused Merchia of healthcare fraud, which led to his indictment and arrest in Massachusetts, causing reputational and business harm in the District of Columbia and nationwide.
Underlying Events:
The alleged defamation occurred when United ...
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter
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ZIFL Volume 29, Issue 24
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Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 29th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter
Merry Christmas & Happy Hannukah
Read the following Articles from the December 15, 2025 issue:
Read the full 19 page issue of ZIFL at ...
