Court Orders DOJ to Indict Serial Fraudster for Criminal Contempt
Post 4890
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September 13, 2024
The USDC described Defendant Alberto Marzan as a serial fraudster who has largely managed to dodge accountability for victimizing individuals in the entertainment industry. Plaintiff Michaleen Josephs sued Marzan and his company, Press Media Group (“PMG”), after Marzan fraudulently induced Josephs to issue a series of bogus investments and other payments. When Marzan failed to respond, the Court entered default judgment for Josephs and awarded damages and equitable relief, including a requirement that Marzan divest from his enterprises and provide any future potential investors, employees, or business associates with copies of the Court’s default judgment order and his 2014 guilty plea for insurance fraud.
In Michaleen Josephs v. Alberto Jose Marzan and Press Media Group, Inc., doing business as VumaTV, CIVIL No. 21-749 (JRT/DTS), United States District Court, D. Minnesota (August 22, 2024) found its patience exhausted because Marzan has continued to defraud others using the same businesses and has not complied with the Court’s disclosure orders, all while expressing his knowledge of, and disdain for, the Court’s order.
The Court asked the United States Department of Justice to prosecute Marzan for criminal contempt.
BACKGROUND
Marzan fraudulently induced Josephs to lend him and his business, PMG, more than $250,000, which he never repaid. Josephs also rented and furnished an apartment for Marzan based on his promise to repay her, incurring nearly $50,000 in additional expenses. Marzan’s fraud was nothing new: Josephs discovered Marzan’s prior convictions for insurance and investment fraud and eight unpaid default judgments for which Marzan was responsible.
Josephs sued Marzan for violations of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) predicated on mail and wire fraud, fraud, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and abuse of process. The Court ordered default judgment for Josephs and awarded her over $800,000 in damages, interest, and attorney’s fees.
The Court entered the injunction after considering the statutory and constitutional propriety of equitable relief. The USDC found that Marzan has created an enterprise designed to skirt damages awards and is using the enterprise to intentionally evade recovery by the same people and entities harmed by the enterprise. The undisputed facts show that he takes advantage of the court’s leniency to find a new victim.
Equitable relief is appropriate when defendants take advantage of the law to shield themselves from accountability at law.
VIOLATIONS
Marzan continues to defraud employees and contractors from a business that the Court ordered him to divest from and without issuing the required disclosures. And he has done so while making clear that he is aware of, but has no regard for, the Court’s order.
DISCUSSION
Because the Court cannot let Marzan’s blatant disregard for its order go unpunished and neither compensatory nor coercive civil contempt are appropriate, the Court refers this case to the United States Attorney for a criminal contempt prosecution.
Fines would likely accomplish nothing, as Marzan habitually ignores monetary judgments.
The Court found that Marzan knew of the Court’s order and the proper mechanisms to ask the Court to reconsider, but decided he would instead disobey the order while denigrating these proceedings. He was not entitled to take matters into his own hands by unilaterally deciding to disregard the Court’s order.
The Court, therefore, requests that the United States Department of Justice prosecute Defendant Alberto Jose Marzan for criminal contempt.
ZALMA OPINION
Marzan’s actions and disrespect and failure to obey court orders is a aggressive form of chutzpah. He blatantly disobeys the orders of the court, fails to appear after receiving an order to show cause, and ignores judgments rendered against him and disobeys orders of the court. It takes a great deal of abuse to cause a U.S. District Court Judge to request the DOJ to prosecute a party before the court for criminal contempt. Hopefully the DOJ will fulfill the court’s request. Fraud should not be allowed to continue.
(c) 2024 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
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Lack of Workers’ Compensation Insurance Voids Contractor’s License
Post 4892
Posted on September 18, 2024 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at https://rumble.com/v5fa86i-unlicensed-contractor-cannot-enforce-contract.html and at https://youtu.be/-x4MigCCmJo
As a condition precedent to the issuance of a contractor’s license, continued maintenance, or reinstatement of a contractor’s license, California law requires applicants and licensees to have on file at all times a current and valid certificate of workers’ compensation insurance.
In American Building Innovation LP v. Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC, et al., G062471, G062965, California Court of Appeals (September 3, 2024) the contractor was unable to recover the contract payments because it did its work without a license.
NO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION, NO LICENSE, NO RIGHT TO BE PAID
Failure to obtain or maintain the required coverage results in the automatic and immediate suspension of the contractor’s license by operation of law. In California a party who was ...
Loss Payable Clause Limits Recovery Only if Insured Can Recover
Post 4892
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gEGkSsDZ, see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gE_4qtbJ and at https://lnkd.in/gTF-dpW7, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4850 posts.
Following a fire that damaged a malt beverage store owned by A Maxon Company, LLC (AMC), Acuity Insurance Company asked the Supreme Court of South Dakota to determine a question of coverage under the terms of an insurance policy, which listed Greg and Tammy Weatherspoon as additional loss payees. At trial, the circuit court granted Acuity’s motion for judgment as a matter of law with respect to the Weatherspoons’ counterclaim based upon the court’s determination that the terms of the insurance policy prevented the Weatherspoons from recovering damages unless AMC successfully asserted a claim for coverage.
In Acuity, A Mutual Insurance Company v. A Maxon Company, LLC, and Greg And Tammy Weatherspoon, 2024 S.D. 53, No. 30463-a-MES, Supreme Court of South Dakota ...
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter – September 15, 2024
Posted on September 16, 2024 by Barry Zalma
ZIFL Volume 28 Number 18
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The Source for the Insurance Fraud Professional
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 28th 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 ...
Intentional Acts, Insurance Claims & Exclusions
Insurance Requires a Fortuitous Act
Available only to subscribers to Excellence in Claims Handling at Subscribe to “Excellence in Claims Handling” at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe for only $5 a month or $50 a year.
It includes the following: "In 1978, the California Supreme Court in Clemmer v. Hartford Insurance Co.71 dealt with a shooting that resulted in the death of the victim.
Regardless, it still led to a finding by the Supreme Court of California of a need for defense and indemnity. The court concluded that Hartford had no duties with regard to Dr. Lovelace’s intentional acts in the killing of Dr. Clemmer but was obligated to defend him. If there was a finding of nonintentional conduct in the shooting, however, it would be obligated to defend and its refusal to do so was wrongful."
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Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE
Insurance claims expert, consultant at Barry Zalma, Inc. and author/Publisher at ClaimSchool, Inc.
August 30, 2024
Posted on August 30, 2024 by Barry Zalma
See the video at:
In this episode, Chantal Roberts and William Auten welcome Barry Zalma, a seasoned insurance industry professional with over 56 years of experience. The trio discusses the changing role of insurance adjusters, their relationship with policyholders, and the current challenges faced by the industry.
Barry shares his journey from a military investigator to a trainee adjuster and recounts significant cases that shaped his career. Barry focuses on the critical importance of effective and fair claims handling for the profitability of insurance companies and the detrimental impact of poor handling practices. The team also grapple insurance fraud, the adversarial nature of the legal system, and the ...
False Swearing & Fraud in Claim Presentation Voids Policy
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NEVER LIE TO YOUR INSURER ABOUT THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE
Post 4833
An insurance coverage dispute that arose from a pipe burst in the historic Pittsfield Building in downtown Chicago. On December 17, 2016, two pipes burst on the tenth floor of the Pittsfield Building, causing water damage to the first ten floors. After the loss event, the Pittsfield Entities filed a claim for the damage with their insurer, The Travelers Indemnity Company (“Travelers”) and could not agree on the extent of damage.
In Pittsfield Development LLC, et al. v. The Travelers Indemnity Company, No. 18CV06576, United States District Court, N.D. Illinois (July 3, 2024) the USDC resolved the action and Travelers’ claim of fraud in the claim presentation discovered during discovery in the plaintiffs’ breach of contract suit.
After initial motion ...
