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 subpoenaed Hernandez for a deposition and Hernandez Associates for documents, Hernandez answered basic background questions but invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about his employment, affiliations, knowledge of persons and entities connected to the alleged scheme, and familiarity with relevant documents.
FIFTH AMENDMENT LAW
The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies in civil discovery whenever a witness reasonably believes that an answer could be used in a criminal prosecution or could lead to incriminating evidence. A court may not compel answers over a valid assertion of the privilege without authorized immunity.
The witness bears the burden of showing a substantial and real—not merely speculative—risk of incrimination. The privilege covers both directly incriminating answers and answers that could furnish a link in the chain of evidence, but it cannot be used merely to avoid testimony the witness would prefer not to give. The court evaluates each question in context, considering whether its incriminating tendency is apparent from the circumstances.
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
A District Court cannot compel a witness to answer deposition questions, over a valid assertion of his Fifth Amendment right, absent a duly authorized assurance of immunity at the time. The person asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege bears the burden of establishing his entitlement to it.”
The court found Hernandez’s invocation valid. Great American’s allegations potentially implicate federal and state offenses including mail fraud, wire fraud, racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting.
Hernandez did not need to be the scheme’s principal actor to face criminal exposure. His asserted fear was reasonable because Subin had been accused in several civil RICO and fraud cases involving staged accidents and fraudulent insurance claims; Hernandez and Hernandez Associates had themselves been named as participants in at least one related action; Great American had independent evidence tying Hernandez to Subin, claimant transportation, shared office space, and litigation-funding businesses; and Hernandez submitted an ex parte declaration that the court reviewed in camera and found supportive of a non-speculative risk of prosecution.
The court determined that Hernandez had not made an impermissible blanket assertion. He answered neutral introductory questions and invoked the privilege only when questions addressed matters that could link him to Subin, related entities, relevant documents, or the alleged fraud. Those questions could furnish evidentiary links in a possible criminal case, so the privilege applied.
Hernandez submitted an ex parte declaration, which the Court has reviewed in camera, that makes clear that his fear of prosecution is not merely speculative
Considering the evidence together, the fear of prosecution here rises far above the speculative, trifling, or imaginary.
CONCLUSION
The court denied Great American’s motion to compel Hernandez to answer the deposition questions for which he invoked the Fifth Amendment. It also denied without prejudice the motion to compel Hernandez Associates to produce documents and directed the Clerk of Court to close the motion. Great American must use evidence from sources other than the defendant who believes that he will be prosecuted if he testifies.
ZALMA OPINION
Insurance Fraud is a serious crime that is a felony in most states. Great American alleged that Hernandez was a participant in a major fraud scheme taking millions fraudulently from Great American and others. It had serious evidence and wanted information from Hernandez to tie up all loose ends in their fraud investigation. Hernandez knew he was involved in criminal activity and if he testified about that activity as Great American insisted he would be prosecuted as he admitted to criminal acts. The Fifth Amendment protected him and Great American must get its evidence from sources other than the criminal.
(c) 2026 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
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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
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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 ...
Policy Limits Demand Accepted Settles Claim
Post 5434
Posted on August 26, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/g-ZtsSgK and at https://lnkd.in/ghMBdYWR
A Contingent Offer Accepted Ends the Dispute
In Farmers Insurance Exchange, a California Reciprocal Insurance Exchange, The Superior Court For The County Of San Bernardino, Kathleen Ann Wood, E087128, California Court of Appeals, (July 9, 2026) Farmers Insurance Exchange insured Doyle Archer under an automobile policy with bodily injury limits of $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Archer rear-ended Kathleen Ann Wood at a red light, causing Wood to assert a bodily injury claim against him. Wood’s counsel sent Farmers a pre-litigation settlement demand offering to resolve Wood’s claim for the available policy limits, stating that if the $100,000 demand exceeded the policy, the offer was for the policy limits.
Farmers timely responded in writing, agreed to pay Wood the $15,000 per-person policy limit, and provided the requested ...
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Posted on October 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Pro Se Plaintiff Failed to Make a Short and Plain Statement
Post 4856
In Tak Lun Ng v. United Financial Casualty Company, No. 26-cv-03136-LJC, United States District Court, N.D. California (September 28, 2026) Tak Lun Ng, proceeding pro se, sued United Financial Casualty Company over a March 2, 2021 automobile accident and the insurer’s March 24, 2021 refusal to pay him.
He appeared to assert breach of contract, fraud, negligence, premises liability, product liability, and related theories. United removed the action from state court and moved to dismiss.
Ng missed that deadline but later filed several documents, including a motion for leave to amend, all of which the court reviewed.
LAW
Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must provide a short and plain statement containing enough factual matter to state a facially plausible...
If Grounds For Dismissal Are Apparent From The Face Of The Complaint, A Court May Also Dismiss The Case on The Court’s Own Motion
Posted on October 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Pro Se Plaintiff Failed to Make a Short and Plain Statement
Post 4856
In Tak Lun Ng v. United Financial Casualty Company, No. 26-cv-03136-LJC, United States District Court, N.D. California (September 28, 2026) Tak Lun Ng, proceeding pro se, sued United Financial Casualty Company over a March 2, 2021 automobile accident and the insurer’s March 24, 2021 refusal to pay him.
He appeared to assert breach of contract, fraud, negligence, premises liability, product liability, and related theories. United removed the action from state court and moved to dismiss.
Ng missed that deadline but later filed several documents, including a motion for leave to amend, all of which the court reviewed.
LAW
Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must provide a short and plain statement containing enough factual matter to state a facially plausible...
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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...
