$3 Million Judgment Bolsters MetLife Auto & Home's Fight Against Insurance Fraud
WARWICK, R.I.--Sept. 1, 2001--Continuing its aggressive attack on auto insurance fraud, MetLife Auto & Home has been awarded judgment in the amount of $2,989,270 in the United States District Court in Massachusetts. The company prevailed in a suit brought against the owners and operators of numerous auto body repair shops, several former policyholders, and one of its former appraisers."This judgment is a significant victory, not only for MetLife Auto & Home, but for our customers and the insurance-buying public," said John Sargent, Corporate Manager for the company's Special Investigations Unit. "Insurance fraud costs U.S. consumers over 25 billion dollars a year, which can increase a family's insurance costs up to $200-400 a year. We feel an obligation to our customers to take a tough stand against fraud. That's why I'm so pleased that, with this judgment, we're sending a strong message to those auto body shops that are willing to participate in insurance fraud: MetLife Auto & Home is not going to roll over and play dead. We're going to stop them in their tracks."
The case is one of several innovative cases brought by MetLife Auto & Home under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act against individuals and entities engaged in fraud. All the cases seek to recover money paid out on bogus claims. This case initially involved the owners and operators of five auto body repair shops, who were alleged to have conspired with an appraiser formerly employed by the company. In exchange for bribes or kickbacks, the appraiser had allegedly inflated automobile appraisals or wrote appraisals for non-existent damage. Prior to the trial, four body shops had either entered into settlement agreements with the insurer or had been defaulted.
Three individuals associated with one repair shop, known as L & L Collisions, went forward with trial in February of 2001. MetLife Auto & Home was represented at the trial by attorneys David Brink and Bruce Medoff of the law firm of Smith & Brink, P.C. The case, entitled Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company v. Fred Battista, et al (Docket No. 97-10952-DPW), resulted in a jury verdict against these individuals. The jury found the following:
| -- | John Lentz was found liable for violating the RICO Act, common law fraud, and civil conspiracy; |
| -- | Michael Lentz was found liable for breech of contract, violating the RICO statute, common law fraud, and conspiring with the co-defendants to defraud MetLife Auto & Home; |
| -- | Andrea Lentz was found liable for breach of contract, violating the RICO statute, common law fraud, and conspiring with the co-defendants to defraud MetLife Auto & Home. |
Judge Douglas P. Woodlock of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered judgment on the jury verdicts on August 21, 2001.
MetLife Auto & Home has established itself as one of the leaders within the automobile-insurance industry in taking aggressive action to combat insurance fraud. The company has successfully recouped millions of dollars in recent years on bogus insurance claims involving alleged personal injuries and automobile repairs. An affiliate of MetLife, Inc. , MetLife Auto & Home is one of the nation's leading personal lines property and casualty companies with nearly 3 million policies in force. The company is also the 4th largest provider of personal auto insurance in the state of Massachusetts. To secure more information about wide variety of insurance products MetLife Auto & Home provides, contact your local MetLife Auto & Home provider or authorized Independent Agent, or visit MetLife's web site at www.metlife.com.
MetLife Auto & Home is a brand of Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its Affiliates, Warwick, RI.