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Lawyer Faces Felony Charge for Allegedly Bribing Hospital Workers
New York Law Journal
September 24, 2009
A felony charge was filed Wednesday against an attorney who is accused of bribing hospital employees for confidential medical information that he allegedly used to solicit clients in a no-fault insurance scam.
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said the charge against William R. Hamel, an attorney at Dinkes & Schwitzer in Manhattan, and seven hospital employees expanded his investigation of the filing of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent medical claims and bodily injury lawsuits on behalf of people involved in minor auto accidents.
The charges represent the second group of allegations in connection with Cuomo's investigation of the so-called "Levy Enterprise." In July, 12 people were indicted in Bronx Supreme Court in connection with the filing of allegedly phony personal injury claims to insurance carriers between January 2005 and November 2007. They included another attorney, Desmond Connell, of the Bronx and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Cuomo said Hamel, 45, of Bethpage, was charged Wednesday in Bronx Criminal Court with third-degree bribery. The Class D felony carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.
The seven hospital workers, who were employed at either the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center or Jacobi Hospital, were charged with receiving a bribe in the third degree, a Class D felony, and the misdemeanor charge of official misconduct.
The seven hospital employees were released on their own recognizance while bail was set for Hamel at $50,000, said Emily Brown, a spokeswoman for the attorney general.
Hamel pleaded not guilty before Bronx Criminal Court Judge Doris Gonzalez. His attorney, Gustave H. Newman, did not immediately return a request for comment.
According to the complaint filed Wednesday against Hamel, the attorney is accused of bribery based on conversations intercepted through court-ordered eavesdropping of talks with Gladys Diaz. She was identified as a clerical assistant at Lincoln whose duties included assembling patients' charts upon their admission and discharge from the facility.
In two conversations with Hamel in March 2007, Diaz exchanged patient information with him and in a third the following month complained that she had not been paid fully by the attorney for money he owed her, the complaint charges.
The complaint does not say how much Hamel allegedly paid Diaz for the information.
Cuomo said patients identified by hospital employees were solicited by Hamel as clients and that they ultimately ended up receiving medical services at the Levy Enterprise.
"Today's arrests underscore the depth of this alleged criminal operation and the extent to which these individuals allegedly abused patient confidentiality and manipulated the system," Cuomo said Wednesday in a statement.
According to July's indictment, the Levy Enterprise operated two clinics where people who suffered minor car accident injuries were lured for unnecessary medical treatment.
More than $1 million in fraudulent claims were then submitted to insurers by the Levy Enterprise and in bodily injury lawsuits filed by attorneys, according to Cuomo.
In July, Cuomo said the no-fault scam may have been extensive enough to cause auto insurance premiums to rise for millions of New York drivers.
Under New York's no-fault system, people hurt in accidents can receive up to $50,000 for medical treatment -- normally billed for and paid directly to health care providers like the Levy Enterprise.
Motorists can also sue for economic damages if they have sustained a "serious" injury as defined by Insurance Law §5102(d). One of the factors in determining the severity of an injury is the extent and length of medical treatment that an accident victim required.
Cuomo's investigation contends that insurers were billed for unnecessary treatments rendered at two clinics controlled by the Levy Enterprise, Bronx Sheridan Medical P.C. and New Lite Bronx Medical PC., and that claims filed by accident victims treated there inaccurately portrayed the severity of motorists' injuries.
Hamel was not in his office Wednesday afternoon and efforts to leave messages with him or Dinkes & Schwitzer partners William Dinkes and William Schwitzer were unsuccessful.
The firm's Web site lists a dozen attorneys, including Hamel. It identifies him as a Brooklyn Law School graduate who was admitted to practice in New York in 1991. His practice areas are identified as plaintiffs' personal injury, construction, labor law, stocks and airline accidents.
Arraigned with Hamel Wednesday were Pradhudial Balkaran, 46, of the Bronx; Franklin Martinez, 54, of Mamaroneck; Vanessa Marte, 26, of Manhattan; Natasha Samuels, 27, of the Bronx; Benito Figueroa, 50, of the Bronx; Odalis Caraballo, 56, of the Bronx, and Kenton Wright, 49, of the Bronx.
All work at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center except for Wright, who is an employee at Jacobi.
The workers were also charged with official misconduct, which carries a maximum term of one year in jail, because they work for public hospitals.
All pleaded not guilty.
Connell was charged with a series of felonies in July's indictment, including grand larceny and insurance fraud.
Brown said Wednesday the charges brought under the July indictment are still pending.
