Attorney Charged with 28 Felonies Over Alleged Role in 'Phantom Menace' Auto Insurance Scam
A Los Angeles lawyer has been charged with 28 felony counts for allegedly participating in an insurance scam involving the staging of accidents in order to collect fraudulent payouts.
Susana Ragos Chung, 59, is accused of hiring Norberto “Chito” Mora to recruit drivers and passengers and stage Northern California accidents. Then, with the help of fraudulent estimates by at least one body shop and faked treatment by chiropractors in on the scam, Chung allegedly collected insurance payouts on their behalf, according to the Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle.
Chung got to keep most of the insurance money, according to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley’s office, because the drivers in the claimed scam were often paid for their participation without ever being told that they were being represented by a lawyer in an insurance claim, the Chronicle reports. Chung never met or even talked to many of the individuals for whom she submitted claims, says assistant district attorney Larry Blazer.
Initially, vehicles were actually damaged prior to the claims, but eventually participants realized it wasn’t necessary to go this far to collect the insurance money, he says.
Chung faces charges including three conspiracy counts and 12 counts of faking an insurance claim.
Already, Mora is serving an eight-year prison term and nearly 100 other individuals, including several chiropractors, have been convicted in the so-called “Phantom Menace” scheme.
“An essential part of such a criminal enterprise is the attorney who acts as a front for the organization by submitting claims on behalf of clients,” says O’Malley in a written statement. “This investigation required extensive and diligent investigation, entailing the meticulous collection of circumstantial evidence.”
Chung has practiced since 1995. She has posted bail and could not immediately be reached for comment, the Chronicle reports.
Her office manager, Ingrid Attillo, also faces charges in the case.
The Associated Press reports that Attillo and Chung’s attorney also could not be reached for comment.
The insurance scheme allegedly began in 2006 and a task force including the California Department of Insurance and California Highway Patrol began investigating in 2008. Blazer said Chung avoided charges initially by litigating to prevent the DA’s office from obtaining documents.
Additional coverage:
Claims Journal: “L.A. Attorney Charged with 28 Felony Counts in Auto Fraud Ring”
