SIU Today Winter 2021 - 18

FREEWAY FALLOUT
Truckers were targeted multiple times along New Orleans' freeways.
A staged crash ring stalked the big rigs and maneuvered them into
high-speed sideswipes and rear-enders.
Damian Labeaud ran the ring, and his road gang smashed insurers
with inflated and bogus injury claims - often by so-called " ghost "
passengers who weren't even in his cars during the collisions.
At least 31 collisions were attributed to the crash ring. Labeaud
and his drivers lied to insurers that the truckers were at fault.
Labeaud accurately figured the trucking firms had large insurance
policies and deep enough pockets to pay the phony injury claims.
And some of the so-called " passengers " had unneeded surgeries
to further inflate insurance payouts.
In one setup, Labeaud drove a Chevy Avalanche into a truck -
but blamed the trucker. Labeaud's attorney arranged bogus injury
treatment for his " passengers " - some of whom weren't even in
the vehicle. Lucinda Thomas also had unneeded neck surgery
to increase her insurance take. The truck's dashcam tipped off
investigators, helping blow the lid off Labeaud's operation.
Lois Russell, Tanya Givens and John Diggs teamed with passenger
James " Curtis " Williams to stage a separate wreck with a tractortrailer.
Roderick Hickman drove Russell's car. He rammed the
18-wheeler and fled with Labeaud in a getaway car. Russell lied
to police that she drove the " hammer " car. She made false injury
claims, along with Givens and Diggs. Insurers paid out $272,500.
Federal prosecutors dismantled Labeaud's ring, earning dozens of
guilty pleas. Labeaud will spend up to five years in federal prison
when sentenced. While the crash ring indictments have largely
wrapped up, the sudden murder of an alleged senior member
of the crash ringleader remains unsolved. According to reports,
Cornelius Garrison was targeted because of his potential testimony
as a witness for the State.
HOOKAH ARSON HOAX RUINS HISTORIC
OLD NEIGHBORHOOD
Brothers Imad and Bahaa Dawara's flailing efforts to run a hookah
bar had fizzled. They were $64,000 behind on rent and feuding
with their landlord. Their final bet to make money on the failed
venture: torch the place for $750,000 of insurance money.
The Darawas' landlord had reached the end of his patience. Unpaid
rent piled up, and the landlord also wouldn't let them hire a DJ or
use hookahs. So the brothers shuttered the bar, and the landlord
permanently ejected them. The pair bought a $750,000 policy
that covered accidental fires - just 16 days before their arson fire.
The brothers botched insurance fraud even worse than they ran
their hookah bar. The explosive gasoline fire ruined a scenic old
neighborhood on Chestnut Street in the heart of Philadelphia's historic
18 SIU TODAY | WINTER 2021
district. Flames and smoke drove hundreds of people from their
businesses and homes, killed pets and caused millions in damage.
More than 400 firefighters had to combat the flames. Around 160
people were evacuated; some sought shelter in a city bus that was
set up as a refuge. At least 10 pets died. The neighborhood remained
shut down for months. The damage drove several restaurants out of
business permanently. Many neighbors lost their homes.
Guests in one neighborhood hotel were forced to evacuate in the
middle of the night. They waited for days before they could return to
retrieve their belongings. They found that most of their possessions
were destroyed. Most of the hotel's 25 employees lost their jobs.
The Darawas were convicted. They each were handed nine years
in prison and must repay $22 million.
COMPOUND CREME SCHEME
An unassuming pharmacy was the hyper-sonic hub of an attempted
$510-million fraud of insurers with claims for tubes of overpriced
and often worthless compound creams, plus unneeded vitamin pills.
Wade Walters marshaled the con from his pharmacy in Hattiesburg,
Miss. Walters especially preyed on hundreds of young service
members covered by Tricare. His crime ring hawked expensive
creams supposedly to relieve pain and scars. The pharmacy mixed
up tubes of compound substances often without meeting patients
or determining if they in fact needed the medicines.
https://www.facebook.com/insurancefraud/videos/551822425583502/
SIU Today Winter 2021

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