ZIFL Volume 30, Issue 18
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THE SOURCE FOR THE INSURANCE FRAUD PROFESSIONAL
Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 30th year of publication dedicated to those involved in educing 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/
This issue contains the following articles about insurance fraud:
Long Island Rep. Laura Gillen Is Taking Aim At Criminals Who Have Been Caught Staging Car Accidents.
Time for a Federal Crime of Insurance Fraud
The accidents may be shams, but the felonies would be real. On Thursday, Gillen (D-NY) introduced the Stop Auto Fraud Act of 2026, which would make the “crash for cash” practice a federal offense punishable by up to 10 years behind bars, with sentence enhancements for smash-ups causing injury or death.
Rep. Laura Gillen is hoping her bipartisan bill will become law to give prosecutors a federal crime to prosecute cash for crash perpetrators.
Sam Whitfield, APCIA’s senior vice president of federal government relations, tied the bill directly to rising premiums.
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A Charge of Insurance Fraud is not Grounds for Deportation
HABEAS CORPUS PETITION GRANTED
Over Staying Visa & Charge of Insurance Fraud Still Entitled to Habeas Relief and a Bond Hearing
In Hernan Guillermo Palomino-Crespo v. Warden, Glades County Detention Center et al., No. 2:26-cv-02322-SPC-NPM, United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Fort Myers Division (August 26, 2026) Hernan Guillermo Palomino-Crespo’s Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, the government’s response and Palomino-Crespo’s reply.
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Sentence Set by Extent of Crime
Crime Requires 121-151 Months of Imprisonment
Mr. Baiyewu Is Liable For The Loss Resulting From Acts Directly Attributable To Him And For The Loss Resulting From The Reasonably Foreseeable Acts Of Others Taken In Furtherance of the Criminal Activity
In United States Of America v. Oluwasegun Baiyewu, CRIMINAL No. 21-395 (RAM), United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico (August 26, 2026) the court dealt with a case after on October 20, 2021, a grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned a single-count Indictment charging Mr. Baiyewu with conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). About a year and a half later, on March 31, 2023, a grand jury returned a single-count Superseding Indictment charging Mr. Baiyewu and four co-defendants with conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
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I Remember 25 Years Ago
Why I Will Never Forget
If My Daughter Started School a Week Later I Would Have Been the Falling Man on September 11, 2001
My youngest daughter had signed up for a semester at the University of New York in the small town of Plattsburgh, New York. My wife, my daughter and I decided to make the trip to New York to be a holiday starting in Washington D.C. and drive up the East Coast to show her the country.
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Health Insurance Fraud Convictions
Ohio State University Agrees to $2.1M Settlement to Resolve Allegations that it Failed to Disclose Employees’ Ties to the People’s Republic of China in Applications for Federal Research Funding
Ohio State University (OSU), a public university in Columbus, Ohio, agreed to pay a total of $2,100,000 to resolve civil allegations that it failed to disclose OSU employees’ affiliations with and support from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in connection with federal research funding.
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The Fight Against Fraud Continues to Grow
U.S. Attorneys and Department of Justice Join Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security and White House Fraud Task Force to Launch Historic Interagency Effort to Crack Down on Fraud in Trucking Industry
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Other Than Health Insurance Fraud Cases
Michigan Man Pleads Guilty in $7M Tax Fraud Scheme
Rodney Underwood, of Detroit, prepared and filed with the IRS more than 200 nearly identically false tax returns on behalf of clients from various locations in Detroit. Underwood, a Michigan man pleaded guilty to filing a false claim in connection with his $7 million scheme to defraud the IRS.
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NC Roofers Caught in Farm Bureau’s Sting Sentenced to Probation, Restitution
Two brothers caught in a sting operation orchestrated by North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance and state regulators have been sentenced to restitution and community service after pleading guilty to deliberately damaging roofs in North Carolina.
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McClenny Moseley & Associates Former Attorney Charged In Alleged Ida Insurance Scheme Exposed By WWL
Five Years After Ida, the First Arrest in the McClenney, Mosely & Associates Scheme, A Former New Orleans Attorney Faces A Federal Charge Tied To An Alleged Scheme Involving Storm Insurance Claims.
Litigation Finance Disclosure Rule In Louisiana Expands Transparency Push In Us Courts
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2026 California Fraud Investigation
The 2026 California fraud investigation refers to a federal probe initiated by the Trump administration into alleged fraud, waste, and abuse in California’s social services and child care programs under Governor Gavin Newsom, publicly announced by President Donald Trump on social media on January 6, 2026.[1][2] Trump described the effort as targeting a state “more corrupt than Minnesota,” drawing parallels to recent scandals uncovered in that state involving similar programs.[3][1] In conjunction with the announcement, the Department of Health and Human Services froze approximately $10 billion in federal child care funding to California and four other Democratic-led states, citing evidence of fraudulent activities in program administration.[4][5] The investigation builds on prior federal scrutiny of California’s spending practices and has prompted responses from state officials, who have challenged the moves while welcoming probes into potential irregularities.
Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE
Barry Zalma, Inc., 4441 Sepulveda Boulevard, CULVER CITY CA 90230-4847, 310-390-4455, http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ZIFL-09-15-2026.pdf
by making contact with the insurer as a prospective insured seeking insurance. The homeowners policy is a specialized policy of insurance that protects the homeowner from certain risks of loss to the real and personal property at the home, the exposure the insured faces for injury to a household employee, and the exposure the insured faces to liability for bodily injury or property damage caused to third parties. The book explains how to buy a homeowners policy and how to collect on any claim made to the homeowners insurer.