Law-enforcement officials have smashed a multimillion-dollar car-insurance fraud ring on Long Island involving bogus medical claims and crooked lawyers.
An eight-month probe, conducted by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and the state Insurance Department, has produced 86 indictments and 400 felony counts against medical clinics, doctors and lawyers believed to have ties to Russian crime families in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, authorities said.
Fake insurance claims were filed under the state's no-fault system, which can pay up to $50,000 in medical costs.
According to a law-enforcement source, members of the ring, known as "crash dummies," would stage accidents on Long Island parkways.
