Insurers Add NY WC Firm to RICO Fraud Suit

MGA Tradesman and its parent company, Roosevelt Road Re, has filed a lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against several New York plaintiff personal injury firms alleging that they conspired with doctors, litigation funders and case referral sources to form a cartel that profited from staged accidents at construction sites.
Among the firms named as defendants is workers’ compensation firm Bangel, Cohen & Falconetti, alleging that it is also providing legal services for workers with allegedly falsified injuries.
“The Bangel Defendants fraudulently inflated the settlement values of workers’ compensation claims in order to obtain payments to Medical Provider Defendants for unnecessary and/or unperformed services and thereafter to extract greater settlement from workers’ compensation carriers, for which Plaintiff Tradesman provides administrative, investigative and support services,” the complaint charged.
In a statement to the Law Journal, Christopher Falconetti of Bangel, Cohen & Falconetti denied the claims against his firm and said that it would consider taking legal action of its own against Tradesman and Roosevelt Road Re for making “baseless allegations.”
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Missouri Employers Mutual (MEM) has announced a new brand identity, MEM, to unify the company and its subsidiary, Previsor, under one name.
The move comes as the insurer readies its transition from a public mutual insurance company to a private mutual insurance company, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
“MEM is well known for providing unmatched work comp expertise delivered through strong relationships with our customers and agents,” Jennifer Peck, MEM Chief Strategy and Customer Officer said.
Among the changes expected, policyholders will be able to hold a single policy for all seven states that the insurer covers, enabling consolidated billing, streamlined audits, and centralized claims reporting.
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Lauren Hill has joined the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission as deputy commissioner, in the state’s Harrisonburg region.
Hill was previously a staff attorney in the Commission’s Judicial Department.
She is also a certified mediator with mentor status in the Commission’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Department.
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