Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502270064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Short
A 23-count indictment unsealed Friday described a complex structure that included medical clinics and law offices that were established solely to process fraudulent claims, said Helen F. Fahey, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The men are accused of paying drivers up to $1,500 to stage dozens of crashes and of recruiting drivers from actual accidents to file false medical claims during the past three years.
Fahey said the drivers and passengers were ``treated'' at one of four medical clinics in Alexandria and Falls Church, and the clinics prepared fake records to file with insurance companies.
All accident participants were represented by four law offices set up in Northern Virginia and Washington by the fraud ring, Fahey said.
The indictment alleges that nearly $250,000 in payments were made by eight insurance companies on 42 fraudulent claims.
The indicted were Atiq Hossain Khan, 40, of Alexandria; Muhammad Ashraf Hussain, 36, of Springfield; Masqsoodur Rahman, 29, of Alexandria; Mohsinul Hossain Sheikh, 28, of Chicago; Mohammad Momtazul Ghani, 34, of District Heights, Md., and Jose Hercules, 23, of Arlington. Hercules is a native of Honduras, and the other five men are from Bangladesh.
They are charged with conspiring to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property for submitting false claims for personal injuries.
by CNB