Court Orders DOJ to Indict Serial Fraudster for Criminal Contempt
Post 4890
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gANKyfm5, see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gHJncZe8 and at https://lnkd.in/gXjP5eUQ and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4850 posts.
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.
Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.
Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe or Subscribe to my substack at https://lnkd.in/gmmzUVBy
Go to X @bzalma; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk
Multiple Suits or Arbitration on Fraudulent Claims Irreparably Harm GEICO
Post number 5279
See the video at https://lnkd.in/gAfNUN82 and at https://lnkd.in/gFxYpCmR, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
GEICO Successfully Fights No Fault Auto Insurance Claims Fraud by Fraudsters Seeking Independent Trials or Arbitrations for Each Suspected Fraudulent Claim
In Government Employees Insurance Company, GEICO Indemnity Company, GEICO General Insurance Company, GEICO Casualty Company v. Bhargav Patel, MD, Patel Medical Care, P.C., John Doe Defendants 1 through 10, No. 24-191, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (February 3, 2026) Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) and its subsidiaries, brought a civil action under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (“RICO”) against Dr. Bhargav Patel, Patel Medical Care, P.C., and other associated defendants.
GEICO alleged that the defendants orchestrated a scheme to exploit New York’s no-fault automobile insurance laws, ...
Multiple Suits or Arbitration on Fraudulent Claims Irreparably Harm GEICO
Post number 5279
See the video at https://lnkd.in/gAfNUN82 and at https://lnkd.in/gFxYpCmR, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
GEICO Successfully Fights No Fault Auto Insurance Claims Fraud by Fraudsters Seeking Independent Trials or Arbitrations for Each Suspected Fraudulent Claim
In Government Employees Insurance Company, GEICO Indemnity Company, GEICO General Insurance Company, GEICO Casualty Company v. Bhargav Patel, MD, Patel Medical Care, P.C., John Doe Defendants 1 through 10, No. 24-191, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (February 3, 2026) Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) and its subsidiaries, brought a civil action under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (“RICO”) against Dr. Bhargav Patel, Patel Medical Care, P.C., and other associated defendants.
GEICO alleged that the defendants orchestrated a scheme to exploit New York’s no-fault automobile insurance laws, ...
An Assignment of Rights to Sue an Insurer Was a Poor Decision
Internet Failure Causes Loss to On Line Auction
See the video at https://lnkd.in/gQ-VMf6b and at https://lnkd.in/gfmkwby7, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
In Auto-Owners Insurance Company v. Halo Foundation: Helping Art Liberate Orphans, No. 25-1275, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (January 27, 2026) the Helping Art Liberate Orphans Foundation challenges Auto-Owners Mutual Insurance Company’s denial of liability under its insurance policy. HALO argued that a broken YouTube link for its virtual auction caused losses covered by the policy. The district court disagreed, granting summary judgment to AutoOwners.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
HALO, a non-profit organization, hosts an annual art auction. In 2022, it was virtual. To livestream it, HALO contracted with Paradise Productions KC, LLC and Qtego Fundraising Services. Paradise would handle the visual feed, Qtego the bidding software. Paradise created a YouTube link for ...
You Get What You Pay For – Less Coverage Means Lower Premium
Post number 5275
Posted on January 30, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the video at and at
When Experts for Both Sides Agree That Two Causes Concur to Cause a Wall to Collapse Exclusion Applies
In Lido Hospitality, Inc. v. AIX Specialty Insurance Company, No. 1-24-1465, 2026 IL App (1st) 241465-U, Court of Appeals of Illinois (January 27, 2026) resolved the effect of an anti-concurrent cause exclusion to a loss with more than one cause.
Facts and Background
Lido Hospitality, Inc. operates the Lido Motel in Franklin Park, Illinois. In November 2020, a windstorm caused one of the motel’s brick veneer walls to collapse. At the time, Lido was insured under a policy issued by AIX Specialty Insurance Company which provided coverage for windstorm damage. However, the policy contained an exclusion for any loss or damage directly or indirectly resulting from ...
Declaratory Relief Available to an Insurer from USDC
Post number 5274
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/resolution-coverage-issues-appropriate-under-federal-barry-wfpoc, see the video at and at and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
Insurer Seeks Limitation of Liability of Child Killed by Foster Dogs
In the Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Insurance Company, an Ohio corporation v. Dennis Murphy, as Personal Representative of the Wrongful Death Estate of Avery Colin Jackson-Dunphy, Deceased; Patrick Admiral Dunphy, an Individual; Danika Thompson, an Individual; and Animal Services Center Of The Messila Valley, a New Mexico limited Liability Company, No. CIV 24-1039 JB/JFR, United States District Court, D. New Mexico (January 23, 2026) resolved the issues raised about the court's jurisdiction.
Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Insurance Company ...
Posted on January 26, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Insurance Fraud Should Not be a Retirement Plan
More from Excellence in Claims Handling Substack for Subscribers Only
You’re reading, until you reach the paywall, from the free part of Excellence in Claims Handling until you reach the paywall. You should consider joining as a paid member to get full access to articles for members only, to our news, analysis, insurance coverage, claims, insurance fraud and insurance webinars, by clicking at the “subscribe” button below.
Health Insurance Providers Are Attempting Insurance Fraud to Fund Retirement
Every insurer is required by its shareholders, members, state statutes and state regulations to do everything possible to deter and defeat attempts at insurance fraud. Most insurers, therefore, have a staff of fraud investigators working under their Special Investigative Unit (SIU) and the SIU works to train the claims handlers to recognize the indicators or red flags of fraud.
Much to the surprise of...
