ZIFL Volume 29, Issue 10
The Source for the Insurance Fraud Professional
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gK_P4-BK and at https://lnkd.in/g2Q7BHBu, and at https://zalma.com/blog and at https://lnkd.in/gjyMWHff.
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/ You can read the full issue of the May 15, 2025 issue at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
This issue contains the following articles about insurance fraud:
Health Care Fraud Trial Results in Murder for Hire of Witness
To Avoid Conviction for Insurance Fraud Defendants Murder Witness
In United States of America v. Louis Age, Jr.; Stanton Guillory; Louis Age, III; Ronald Wilson, Jr., No. 22-30656, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (April 25, 2025) the Fifth Circuit dealt with the criminals.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
Insurance Fraud is a Violent Crime
Murder for Insurance Proceeds Results in Life in Prison
It Is Not Nice to Break Your Wife’s Neck to Collect her Life Insurance So You Get Life In Prison
Insurance fraudster and murder Kenneth Russell Moyer appealed the trial court’s denial of his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.6. Moyer took issue with the jury’s conclusion he was a beneficiary on his wife’s insurance policy, his counsel’s failure to properly litigate this issue at his first trial and argued his appellate counsel’s conclusion that he is ineligible for relief under section 1172.6 constituted ineffective assistance of counsel.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
Health Insurance Fraud Convictions
Texas Insurance Fraudster Given Prison Sentence and $350K Fine
Mayela Saby Cantu was sentenced by a federal judge because the McAllen woman reportedly helped commit property and title fraud schemes to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane also ordered Cantu to pay $350,000 in restitution.
Read about dozens of convictions and the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
Insurance Fraudsters are not Nice – They Are Criminals
Lawyers Attempt to Protect Assets of their Clients Charged with Insurance Fraud From Seizure by State Fails
In The People v. David M. Browne et al., B332304, California Court of Appeals, Second District, Seventh Division (May 6, 2025) found criminal defense lawyers in contempt.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
Before the Interview Begins
Every professional knows that the art of the interview cannot be learned exclusively from the printed word. Conversely, experience alone, without the knowledge and application of general principles, is no assurance of an interviewer’s professional development. The adept professional must not only know what these principles are, but how and when to apply them. Even the simplest technique will occasionally succeed. If the interviewer is to succeed, he or she must know the necessary background information, possess a thoroughly prepared attitude, and, above all, have a plan.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
MORE MCCLENNY MOSELEY & ASSOCIATES ISSUES
This is ZIFL’s forty-sixth 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.
McClenny, Moseley & Associates & the FBI
The FBI’s New Orleans Division is actively investigating McClenny, Moseley & Associates (MMA), now known as MMA Law Firm, for alleged fraud related to hurricane litigation, primarily targeting Southeastern Louisiana homeowners after Hurricane Ida in 2021.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
From Steven Badger of Zelle LLP
More About Attorney Eric Dick
Mr. Badger reported on LinkedIn that: “Another lawsuit has been filed against Eric Dick by one of his homeowner clients. This lawsuit, filed in Tarrant County, alleges legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. Interestingly, the lawsuit alleges that Mr. Dick and his law firm “fraudulently claimed they have incurred expenses and sought the same from Plaintiffs’ settlement funds.” Lawyers have to be very careful with the expenses they subtract from their clients’ settlement proceeds. It will be enlightening to see what expenses Mr. Dick charged his clients in this appraisal matter. I also wonder if Mr. Dick charged his usual 45% contingency fee. I have previously raised the question of whether charging a 45% contingency fee in a matter resolved in appraisal is an “unconscionable fee” under Rule 1.04 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
CONVICTIONS OF OTHER THAN HEALTH INSURANCE FRAUD
New Jersey Woman Sentenced to Prison for Forced Labor and Other Federal Crimes
Bolaji Bolarinwa, 51, of Moorestown, previously was found guilty of two counts of forced labor, one count of alien harboring for financial gain and two counts of document servitude following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court. Judge Williams imposed the sentence in Camden federal court.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
Disaster Fraud Schemes
Since the wildfires struck Los Angeles this year homeowners and business people, and their insurers, will face attempts to defraud the public who the victims of the fires and their insurers face attempts at fraud, including the following forms of fraud generally attempted after a catastrophe:
1. False or exaggerated claims by policyholders.
2. Claims made by people who did not have property in the area of hurricane damage.
3. Misclassification of flood damage as wind, fire, or theft.
4. Claims filed by individuals residing hundreds of miles outside the disaster-zone.
5. Bid-rigging by contractors, falsely inflating the cost of repairs.
6. Contractors requiring upfront payment for services, then failing to perform the agreed upon repairs.
7. Unlicensed public adjusters making promises that they could not fulfill.
8. Charity fraud scams designed to misappropriate funds donated for disaster relief.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
The Tort of Bad Faith & Insurance Fraud
The logarithmic growth of insurance fraud in the state of California, and other states that have allowed tort damages for bad faith breach of insurance contracts, may be directly traced, in part, to the judicial creation of the tort of bad faith. Before the tort of bad faith, insurers with a reasonable belief that an insured was presenting a fraudulent claim would refuse to pay it and file a suspected fraudulent claim report with the Department of Insurance Fraud Division or Fraud Bureau. Persons perpetrating the fraud would, in most cases, accept the refusal as a cost of doing business and went on to the next fraudulent claim.
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
BARRY ZALMA
Barry Zalma, Esq., CF, Barry Zalma, Inc., 4441 Sepulveda Boulevard, CULVER CITY CA 90230-4847, 310-390-4455
Read the full 20 page issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
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...
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 ...
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 ...
Plaintiff’s Reading of the Policy is Plaintiff’s Reasonable Allegations
Posted on October 19, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Post 4868
CLASS ACTION THAT STATES A SIMPLE CLEAR AND PLAUSIBLE CAUSE OF ACTION SURVIVES
In Sheila Marino v. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, No. 2:25-cv-02200-JNW, United States District Court, W.D. Washington, Seattle (October 13, 2026) defendant Farmers New World Life Insurance Company’s (“FNWL”) moved to dismiss Plaintiff Sheila Marino’s putative class action involving flexible universal life insurance.
Marino filed a putative class action in King County Superior Court alleging: (1) breach of contract, (2) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and (3) violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
She pleaded two theories: an “overcharge” theory and an “underpayment of interest” theory asked the Court to take judicial notice of historical Federal Funds Effective Rates.
THE LAW
Pleading Standard.
To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a ...
Alleged Defamatory Statements Must be Of and Concerning Plaintiffs
Posted on October 16, 2026 by Barry Zalma
To Prove Defamation the Statement Must be Of and Concerning the Plaintiffs
Post 4867
In Michael Moloney and Sergio Cantu v. United Services Automobile Association, No. 04-25-00519-CV, Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio (October 14, 2026) Michael Moloney and Sergio Cantu appealed from the trial court’s granting of a traditional motion for summary judgment in favor of United Services Automobile Association (“USAA”) on their defamation claim.
BACKGROUND
Moloney and Cantu sued USAA for defamation, alleging that they are the principals of Informed Roofing & Restoration, LLC (“Informed Roofing”), which is primarily engaged in the residential roofing repair and replacement business, and that an employee or agent of USAA had made false and defamatory statements to the San Antonio Police Department (“SAPD”) concerning them.
Specifically, Moloney and Cantu alleged that an employee of ...
ZIFL – Volume 30, Issue 20 Subscribe to ZIFL here https://lnkd.in/gfpn78FM
Posted on October 15, 2026 by Barry Zalma
THE SOURCE FOR THE INSURANCE FRAUD PROFESSIONAL
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 30th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud.
ZIFL is published 24 times a year is written by Barry Zalma.
It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at https://lnkd.in/gVT5G9s
Six Insane Fraud Schemes the Trump Administration Has Uncovered Stealing from the taxpayer has now become a multi-billion-dollar industry in America. Obamacare has been a magnet for scammers.
Florida Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty in $300,000 Premium Finance Scheme
Daniel Raney, 41, who managed Raney Insurance and Raney Ventures in Pensacola, was arrested after AFCO Direct.
RIFE WITH FRAUD ALLOWS DEMANDS TO ESTABLISH RESTITUTION
Six Insane Fraud Schemes the Trump Administration Has Uncovered
Stealing from the taxpayer has now become a multi-billion-dollar industry in America – and the ...
