Zalma on Insurance
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Insurance Claims professional presents articles and videos on insurance, insurance Claims and insurance law for insurance Claims adjusters, insurance professionals and insurance lawyers who wish to improve their skills and knowledge. Presented by an internationally recognized expert and author.
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July 28, 2025
Crime Doesn’t Pay – Allstate to Have Judgment Against Fraudsters

Fraud Perpetrators Will Have Judgment Entered in Favor of Insurer They Defrauded
Post 5155

See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gGP7BYSU and at https://lnkd.in/gi4GEGeG, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5150 posts.

Allstate Effectively Proactive Against Insurance Fraud

Plaintiffs Allstate Insurance Company and other Allstate companies (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) sued seeking redress for losses incurred due to an alleged insurance fraud scheme. Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants Toshner, Lacey Davies, Michael Trinh, Roadside Response, LLC, and Responsible Billing, LLC’s (collectively, “Defendants”) submitted false reimbursement claims for hazardous material cleanups that were never actually performed, were unnecessary, or did not involve an Allstate insured.

In Allstate Insurance Company, et al. v. Daniel Toshner, et al., No. 1:24-CV-27-RP, United States District Court, W.D. Texas, Austin Division (July 9, 2025) Allstate moved for default to be entered against the defendants.

BACKGROUND

Although Defendants initially appeared in this lawsuit their counsel later moved to withdraw from his representation of Defendants. The Court granted counsel’s motion to withdraw and ordered Defendants to retain new counsel by a specific deadline, noting that while Defendants Toshner, Davies, and Trinh could represent themselves pro se, the corporate defendants could not. The Court also granted Plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery responses from Defendants and afforded Defendants 60 days to respond to the at-issue discovery requests. When Defendants did not retain counsel or comply with their discovery obligations by the deadline the Defendants did not respond to the court.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs moved for entry of default against Defendants which the Clerk of Court entered. Toshner, proceeding pro se, then filed the instant motion to set aside the default entered against him.

Because no party has filed timely objections, the Court found no clear error and the Court denied Toshner’s motion to set aside the default entered against him.

Further, now that the Clerk of the Court has entered default against all Defendants, the next step in this litigation is for Plaintiffs to move for default judgment against Defendants. Plaintiffs have received an entry of default as to all Defendants.

Plaintiffs have yet to complete the second step in the process by moving for default judgment. Under the Court’s Local Rules, the Court ordered that Plaintiffs move for default judgment against Defendants on or before July 30, 2025.

ZALMA OPINION

Because state prosecutors are often unwilling to charge fraud perpetrators for their actions defrauding insurers, Allstate and other insurers are becoming proactive and sue the fraud perpetrators for major damages. In this case the fraudsters lawyer refused to represent them and withdrew and they did not get new counsel to defend. Default was entered and Allstate will produce evidence and receive a judgment against each of the fraudsters that they can then execute against any assets held by the fraudster defendants.

(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

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September 18, 2026
Expert May Only Testify to What Experience Supports

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...

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September 17, 2026
Convicted on 29 Tax-Refund-Fraud Counts

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 ...

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September 14, 2026
Court Enforces Fifth Amendment & Refuses to Compel Answers

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 ...

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October 02, 2026
Announcement About False Claims Act Settlement Results in Damages Suit

Employee Report of Fraud Results in Damages Suit After Qui Tam Suit Settled

No Statutory Hearing Right Arose Because No Dental Commission Complaint License Suspension, Revocation, Or Sanction Occurred.

Post 4855

Posted on October 2, 2026 by Barry Zalma

In Abbas Mohammadi et al. v. William M. Tong et al., No. AC 47598, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (September 29, 2026) Abbas Mohammadi owned and operated Columbia Dental, P.C., which provided dental services through multiple Connecticut offices; Columbia Oral Maxillofacial Imaging, LLC served as the billing entity.

From April 2012 to February 27, 2013, Columbia Dental employed Brittany Ames Mahoney as a dental assistant. During her employment, Mahoney claimed to have discovered certain billing irregularities, including, but not limited to, false and fraudulent reimbursement claims submitted to the Department of Social Services for services rendered to Medicaid beneficiaries. Mahoney filed a complaint and an affidavit in the United States District Court for the District of...

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October 01, 2026
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter – October 1, 2026

Another Anniversary for Barry Zalma, Inc

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Barry Zalma
From October 1, 1979 – 2026

Post 4854

Read the full issue of ZIFL at https://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ZIFL-10-01-2026.pdf Forty seven years ago today I left the world of the employed and became an entrepreneur by opening my own law firm. The law practice was incorporated shortly thereafter as Barry Zalma, Inc.

When I opened for business on October 1, 1979, I had no clients and no certainty that I would have any in the future. I had borrowed money from the bank to carry me through the first six months and was concerned about my ability to pay the loan with my third child about to be born.

Much to my surprise and pleasure, on October 1, 1979, at 8:10 a.m., the best claims handler in the London market, Alan Warboys, called from London and provided me with my first case as an independent lawyer to represent Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London. He, and the Lloyd’s Underwriters he represented, showed faith in me as a lawyer and insurance expert. Alan is now, although ...

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September 30, 2026
Suing for Services Provided, and Paid for, is Fraud

Defendants Successfully Moved for Summary Judgment

Post 4854

Posted on September 30, 2026 by Barry Zalma

In Jeffrey Wayne Phillips v. Creative Website Studios, et al., No. 5:23-CV-568-BO-BM, United States District Court, E.D. North Carolina, Western Division (September 28, 2026) the Court needed to rule on the order and memorandum and recommendation (“M&R”) of the Magistrate.

Jeffrey Wayne Phillips had contracted with Creative Website Studios and SR Telecommunications for website and hosting services. He alleged that defendants repeatedly billed him for hosting periods he had already paid for and later took down his website. Phillips claimed the outage prevented him from bidding on U.S. government security contracts and sought roughly $300 million in consequential damages.
LAW

Under North Carolina law, fraud requires a false material representation or concealment, intent and effect of deception, resulting damage, and reasonable reliance. Obtaining property by false pretenses similarly requires an ...

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