See the full video at https://rumble.com/v6vkjrv-zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-july-1-2025.html and at https://youtu.be/_rIBWqPcJDQ
ZIFL – Volume 29 No. 13 – July 1, 2025
Post 5111
Uber Technologies Inc. sued a group of lawyers, medical providers and rideshare drivers it claims staged car accidents, manufactured damages and received unnecessary medical procedures to take advantage of insurance policies in Florida, costing the rideshare giant “several million dollars” in legal fees.
Uber accused the group of conspiring to “generate an excuse to deliver unnecessary medical care, submit false insurance claims for recovery and file frivolous lawsuits to sue for non-existent damages” between 2023 and 2024. The five drivers named in the suit were “recruited with bribes to stage accidents,” Uber said in the federal suit filed in south Florida. The group recruited claimants who took their cars to designated body shops to manufacture the “false impression that the accidents resulted in injury,” the company said.
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.pdf
Health Insurance Fraud Convictions
Fugitive Physician Sentenced to Prison in Medicare Fraud Scheme
Lilit Gagikovna Baltaian, 61, a Porter Ranch, California physician was sentenced June 12, 2025 in Los Angeles to 54 months in prison for health care fraud arising from her false home health certifications and related fraudulent billings to Medicare. She is a fugitive and was sentenced in absentia.
According to court documents Baltaian was a physician licensed to practice in California and an enrolled Medicare provider. From January 2012 to July 2018, she falsely certified patients to receive home health care from at least four Los Angeles area home health agencies. These certifications were used by the home health agencies to fraudulently bill Medicare. In some instances, Baltaian pre-signed blank, undated physician certification forms knowing that the home health agencies would falsify the forms to make appear that she had seen the Medicare beneficiaries and made clinical findings to support the need for home health care, when she had done neither. Baltaian received cash payments related to these referrals and also separately billed Medicare for signing the fraudulent certifications.
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.pdf
Prisoner’s Loses Suit Against Sheriff for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
Creative Litigation Fails Because Crime Does not Pay
Prisoner Acting as His Own Lawyer Misses Prerequisite to His Suit
In this pro se prisoner case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, United States Magistrate Judge Bradley W. Rath’s Report and Recommendation recommends that Defendants Sheriff John Ledbetter, Geneva Drummond, and VitalCore’s Motions for Summary Judgment be granted, that Plaintiff Monnie Villarreal’s Motion to Amend be denied as moot, and that the Court dismiss this case without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
In Monnie Villarreal v. Vitalcore, et al. No. 1:24-cv-99-HSO-BWR, United States District Court, S.D. Mississippi, (June 18, 2025) the District Judge adopted Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation as the opinion of the Court.
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.pdf
WHAT IS NEEDED TO DETER INSURANCE FRAUD?
To do so the insurers must train their staff to recognize the elements of both the crime of insurance fraud and the elements of the civil tort of insurance fraud. If well trained, insurance personnel collecting information about a potential insurance fraud, will know the type and quality of information that either a prosecutor or a civil defense lawyer will need to prove fraud was attempted.
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.pdf
FRAUD CONVICTIONS FOR OTHER THAN HEALTH INSURANCE FRAUD
Founder of Lender Service Provider Convicted for Role in Multimillion-Dollar PPP Fraud Scheme
Stephanie Hockridge, a founder of the lender service provider Blueacorn, was convicted by a Federal Jury in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief money guaranteed by the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.pdf
Bad Faith Set-Ups
Bad faith insurance claims are successful when a plaintiff can prove that the insurance company wrongfully denied an insurance claim and deprived the insured of the benefits of the contract of insurance without good cause. Bad faith insurance suits can arise in the context of any insurance policy.
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.pdf
BARRY ZALMA
Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, Barry Zalma, Inc., 4441 Sepulveda Boulevard, CULVER CITY CA 90230-4847, 310-390-4455
[email protected], http://www.zalma.com, http://zalma.com/blog; Subscribe to “Excellence in Claims Handling” at href=”https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe.”> “Excellence in Claims Handling” at href=“https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe.”> a href=“https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe.”>
Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma, 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, https://gettr.com/@zalma, 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/
Read the full article and the full 19 pages of the issue of ZIFL at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ZIFL-07-01-2025.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 ...
Is Exhaustion Required to Seek Declaratory Relief From an Excess Insurer?
Post 4578
Posted on November 9, 2026 by Barry Zalma
In Fox Paine & Company, LLC, et al. v. Twin City Fire Insurance Company et al., S287404, 593 P.3d 832, 593 P.3d 838, 346 Cal.Rptr.3d 541, Supreme Court of California, (July 27, 2026) the Supreme Court noted that Insurance is sometimes procured in a series of layers, with an insured acquiring a primary insurance policy that provides an initial layer of coverage for loss or liability and an excess insurance policy or policies that provide additional coverage in the event the underlying coverage is exhausted. Usually, the first layer of coverage must be exhausted before the excess layers are available to the insured.
Exhaustion
Fox and Paine’s investment-firm dispute generated extensive litigation and competing insurance claims. Their insurance tower consisted of a $10 million primary policy and four $10 million excess layers.
The Fox Parties alleged that insurers paid their rivals, withheld information,...
Payment of Fines & Completion of Probation Reinstates Right to Vote
Post 4576
Posted on November 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
To Restore Voting Rights The Felon Must Pay Fines of $546.00
In Florida Supreme Court Mediator Ethics Advisory Committee, ETH F-26-377, No. F-26-377 (October 29, 2026) citizen unnamed and to Ron Desantis Governor, Cord Byrd the Secretary of State Florida Division of Elections provided an advisory opinion to a convicted felon about his right to vote:
To: [redacted] We received your request for an advisory opinion. You indicate that you have one or more felony convictions and request whether you are eligible to vote, including whether you have any outstanding legal financial obligations under section 98.0751, Florida Statutes, and, if so, a statement of the amount that must be paid to make you eligible to vote, and an explanation of how the amount was calculated.
The Division hereby responds to your request pursuant to its legal authority under section 106.23(2), Florida Statutes, and Florida ...
Administrative Review Permits the Agency to Apply its Expertise
Post 4574
In Erwin Jordan Castro Valdez v. Warden, Otay Mesa Detention Center, No. 26-cv-06147-BAS-JLB, United States District Court, S.D. California (October 30, 2026) Castro Valdez, a Cuban national paroled into the United States, was arrested on June 23, 2026, for alleged insurance fraud, grand theft, and making a false report to law enforcement. In his first habeas action, the district court ordered a bond hearing within fourteen days to determine whether the changed circumstances justified revoking his parole.
An Immigration Judge subsequently denied bond because of his pending state criminal case. Castro Valdez filed a second petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, challenging that determination and requesting immediate release without first appealing to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
LAW
According to the supplied text, § 2241 does not expressly require administrative exhaustion, but courts impose exhaustion as a prudential requirement. ...
