The team, here at Allegiant Experts, has a lot of experience working within the world of Personal Injury Protection in the state of Florida. Naturally, we work closely with numerous attorneys, offering our clinical expertise that seeks to either confirm or refute the vast array of personal injury insurance claims that are made.
A recent story emanating from PalmBeachPost.com has hit pretty close to home as it details the undoing of one particular Delray Beach-based lawyer who was found to be part of a multi-million dollar insurance fraud scheme. As Jane Musgrave reports, 66 year-old attorney, Jason Dalley of Lake Worth was recently charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and health care fraud.
Dalley did not work alone. An accomplice, Richard Yonover, 54 and a chiropractor, Linda Varisco, 55, of Coral Springs, were charged along with him. According to Musgrave, the trio is “accused of orchestrating a kickback scheme to take advantage of the state’s mandatory personal injury protection car insurance program, popularly known PIP. Using chiropractors and tow truck drivers to solicit patients and clients, federal prosecutors claim they…bilked insurers out of as much as $2 million.”
According to Musgrave’s report, Dalley, Yonover and Varisco each face a maximum 5-year prison term and a $250,000 fine. Their co-conspirators included 41 year-old, Felix Filenger of Sunny Isles and 48 year-old, Andrew Rubinstein of Miami. The two owned a total of 15 chiropractic clinics all throughout the state including Palm Beach Chiropractic and Wellness Center in West Palm Beach and Delray Chiropractic and Wellness Center in Delray Beach.
Along with chiropractor Olga Spivak, 59, of Hollywood, the duo was jailed following brief court appearances on racketeering and fraud charges, Musgrave writes. All three now face maximum sentences of more than 70 years if convicted. Both Varisco and Spivak falsely claimed they owned the chiropractic clinics in order to comply with insurance regulations.
Interestingly, all six charged individuals are accused of operating a scheme that Florida lawmakers were trying to dissuade when they changed the terms of the state’s PIP program back in 2013. The reimbursement rates were dropped from $10,000 to $2,500 for non-emergency medical care. Nevertheless, all six parties worked together in order to defraud the PIP program by classifying the majority of claimable treatments as emergencies.
As well, reports Musgrave, the scheme involved Yonover and Dalley paying unnamed tow truck drivers and others $2,100 for each person they convinced to either visit Yonover’s clinics or Dalley’s law office after they were involved in car accidents. “The accident victims were encouraged to visit the clinics at least 30 times so the clinic owners could receive the largest PIP reimbursement,” she details.
Musgrave also points out that the scheming team of six used some bullying tactics. She reveals that if the accident victims failed to visit the clinics at least thirty times for treatment, the clinic owners would refer them to “corrupt lawyers” who would instruct the victims to return to those clinics.
The Allegiant Experts team continually works towards assisting attorneys who try cases against such perpetrators of fraud. For more information about how our clinical experts may be able to assist you with your case, please don’t hesitate to call us at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.
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