Victimology – how people react to being victims of crime and how law enforcement and victim service providers can use this information to help victims.
Training and Victim Assistance Program
State insurance Pressure regulators have created 37 fraud bureaus in 45 States whose job is to ivestigate and hunt down fraud. This is not for the consumers. Ask why ? The grand jury\’s seating comes as State Farm continues to negotiate a possible settlement with Hood and lawyers for hundreds of policyholders who sued the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer for denying claims.
One of the conditions of any settlement with State Farm is that Hood end the grand jury\’s probe, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Smiley N. PoolThe dallas morning news
State Farm threatened to fire an engineering firm if it didn\’t have its reports blame water for damage, e-mails say.
NEW ORLEANS — Attorneys for homeowners suing State Farm Insurance Cos. after Hurricane Katrina long have accused the insurer of pressuring engineers to alter reports on storm-damaged homes so that policyholders\’ claims could be denied.
Now, some of the lawyers say they have evidence: internal e-mails from an engineering firm that helped State Farm adjust claims after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane destroyed thousands of homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
State Farm denies pressuring engineers to change their conclusions, but the e-mails, obtained Tuesday, indicate the company was threatening to dismiss Raleigh, N.C.-based Forensic Analysis & Engineering Corp. less than two months after Katrina.
State Farm and other insurers say their homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not high water, including wind-driven storm surge.
Zach Scruggs, an attorney who is part of a legal team that sued State Farm on behalf of hundreds of homeowners, said Forensic turned over the e-mails as part of the pretrial discovery process for one of the lawsuits.
The e-mails \”confirm everything that we have always suspected,\” Scruggs said. \”What it says is pretty shocking. This outlines the whole scheme of theirs.\”
The e-mails exchanged between Forensic President and CEO Robert Kochan and Randy Down, the firm\’s vice president of engineering services, outline complaints against their firm\’s work from Alexis King, a State Farm manager in Mississippi.
Kochan, in an e-mail dated Oct. 17, 2005, says the firm will continue working with State Farm, but he talks about needing to \”redo the wording\” of a report after a discussion with King \”such that the conclusions are better supported.\”
The e-mail also says King didn\’t want local engineers to inspect properties because they were \”too emotionally involved\” and were \”working very hard to find justifications to call it wind damage when the facts only show water-induced damage.\”
In a reply dated Oct. 18, 2005, Down questioned the insurer\’s motivations. He suggested that on another occasion, State Farm asked the firm to remove information from a report because \”they would then have to settle.\”
\”I really question the ethics of someone who wants to fire us simply because our conclusions don\’t match hers,\” Down wrote.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, in Washington after testifying yesterday before the Senate Commerce Committee, said he knew about the e-mails for months as part of his criminal grand-jury investigation.
\”It is a document that clearly shows State Farm used engineers and coerced engineers to write a report like they wanted,\” Hood said.
Down, who has left Forensic, said that the threat to fire the company came \”out of the blue.\”
\”The question was why,\” Down added. \”The initial internal discussion I heard is that they didn\’t like our reports.\”
State Farm spokesman Phil Supple rejected the notion that the company pressured engineers to alter their conclusions.
\”Our employees are committed to conducting themselves in an ethical and appropriate manner,\” he said.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The Corporate Fraud Task Force is a task force of the United States Federal Government.
It was created by Executive Order 13271, \”Establishment of the Corporate Fraud Task Force\”, on July 9, 2002.
The task force was formed by President George W. Bush in the wake of corporate accounting scandals that shook investor confidence.
\”We will use the full weight of the law to expose and root out corruption,\” Bush said on July 9, 2002. \”My administration will do everything in our power to end the days of cooking the books, shading the truth and breaking our laws.\”
According to CNN at the time:
\”Bush\’s speech was designed in part to refute critics who have called him too cozy with Corporate America — particularly Democrats who, in a congressional election year, seem unlikely to cut him much slack, especially after raising questions about his own past business dealings.\”
\”The speech, which the administration had been advertising for weeks in advance, came a day after the president held an impromptu news conference and was forced to defend his sale of stock in Harken Energy 12 years
\”As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the
hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things
there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel
didn\’t exist and couldn\’t be produced. So I\’m not real happy with that and I
want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys
outweigh the wishes of their clients.\”
Gary T. Fye, an expert in the analysis of disputed insurance claims who
lives in Nevada, often testifies in insurance cases. Fye, who said he has
testified on behalf of policyholders and insurance companies, has provided
the courts information on State Farm\’s history of destroying and withholding
records.
In 1998, Fye wrote in a Florida case
\”I have been witnessing document destruction, concealment, and obstruction
of discovery by State Farm for many years in connection with my review of
internal claim practices documents of the insurer. I have accumulated
certain Exhibits which show the company\’s goals and objectives for document
handling by its employees. The documents show close to 28 years of
intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices
records.\”
In some cases, company executives did not keep records.
Jeff Marr, the attorney suing State Farm in Oklahoma, took sworn testimony
Sept. 6 from Rust. Topics included Rust\’s Chairman\’s Council, made up of top
State Farm executives. The group, which includes the company\’s general
counsel, meets quarterly.
Marr was fishing for records of those meetings that he could subpoena for
his lawsuit.
\”Certainly,\” Marr asked Rust, \”you keep records of the quarterly meetings
where the entire Chairman\’s Council is present?\”
\”We have an agenda,\” Rust said, \”but minutes in that, no.\”
\”Why not?\” Marr asked.
Rust replied, \”Never felt a need to.\”
Marr later asked, \”Are there any written agendas that are available should I
choose to request them in the lawsuit?\”
\”I\’m not sure what might be available,\” Rust said.
Rust also said policyholders, who essentially own the private mutual
company, are not entitled to know what the Chairman\’s Council discusses or
decides about litigation against State Farm, citing attorney-client
privilege.
Marr questioned why the company would withhold information from
policyholders, who own State Farm.
\”Well, again,\” said Rust (who has a law degree), \”I\’m not an expert in the
area, but I think as you find — even if I\’m a shareholder in a publicly
traded company, there are things that are not — you know, I do not have
access to.\”
Marr later asked if policyholders have a right to see documents from State
Farm\’s investigation of Haag.
“This is another desperate attempt to discredit and disqualify anyone who threatens to expose State Farm. This effort is part of an orchestrated campaign to direct the attention away from State Farm’s conduct and onto persons who threaten to expose their conduct
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If you don\’t think that\’s funny then get the hell outta here!
Victimology – how people react to being victims of crime and how law enforcement and victim service providers can use this information to help victims.
Training and Victim Assistance Program
Good definition. Too bad no crime was committed.
State insurance Pressure regulators have created 37 fraud bureaus in 45 States whose job is to ivestigate and hunt down fraud. This is not for the consumers. Ask why ? The grand jury\’s seating comes as State Farm continues to negotiate a possible settlement with Hood and lawyers for hundreds of policyholders who sued the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer for denying claims.
One of the conditions of any settlement with State Farm is that Hood end the grand jury\’s probe, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
State Farm
Seems like Gulf Coast Region not only region having problems with SF!
You are right. There are people everywhere that don\’t know what their policy covers.
Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
Smiley N. PoolThe dallas morning news
State Farm threatened to fire an engineering firm if it didn\’t have its reports blame water for damage, e-mails say.
NEW ORLEANS — Attorneys for homeowners suing State Farm Insurance Cos. after Hurricane Katrina long have accused the insurer of pressuring engineers to alter reports on storm-damaged homes so that policyholders\’ claims could be denied.
Now, some of the lawyers say they have evidence: internal e-mails from an engineering firm that helped State Farm adjust claims after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane destroyed thousands of homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
State Farm denies pressuring engineers to change their conclusions, but the e-mails, obtained Tuesday, indicate the company was threatening to dismiss Raleigh, N.C.-based Forensic Analysis & Engineering Corp. less than two months after Katrina.
State Farm and other insurers say their homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not high water, including wind-driven storm surge.
Zach Scruggs, an attorney who is part of a legal team that sued State Farm on behalf of hundreds of homeowners, said Forensic turned over the e-mails as part of the pretrial discovery process for one of the lawsuits.
The e-mails \”confirm everything that we have always suspected,\” Scruggs said. \”What it says is pretty shocking. This outlines the whole scheme of theirs.\”
The e-mails exchanged between Forensic President and CEO Robert Kochan and Randy Down, the firm\’s vice president of engineering services, outline complaints against their firm\’s work from Alexis King, a State Farm manager in Mississippi.
Kochan, in an e-mail dated Oct. 17, 2005, says the firm will continue working with State Farm, but he talks about needing to \”redo the wording\” of a report after a discussion with King \”such that the conclusions are better supported.\”
The e-mail also says King didn\’t want local engineers to inspect properties because they were \”too emotionally involved\” and were \”working very hard to find justifications to call it wind damage when the facts only show water-induced damage.\”
In a reply dated Oct. 18, 2005, Down questioned the insurer\’s motivations. He suggested that on another occasion, State Farm asked the firm to remove information from a report because \”they would then have to settle.\”
\”I really question the ethics of someone who wants to fire us simply because our conclusions don\’t match hers,\” Down wrote.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, in Washington after testifying yesterday before the Senate Commerce Committee, said he knew about the e-mails for months as part of his criminal grand-jury investigation.
\”It is a document that clearly shows State Farm used engineers and coerced engineers to write a report like they wanted,\” Hood said.
Down, who has left Forensic, said that the threat to fire the company came \”out of the blue.\”
\”The question was why,\” Down added. \”The initial internal discussion I heard is that they didn\’t like our reports.\”
State Farm spokesman Phil Supple rejected the notion that the company pressured engineers to alter their conclusions.
\”Our employees are committed to conducting themselves in an ethical and appropriate manner,\” he said.
For
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The Corporate Fraud Task Force is a task force of the United States Federal Government.
It was created by Executive Order 13271, \”Establishment of the Corporate Fraud Task Force\”, on July 9, 2002.
The task force was formed by President George W. Bush in the wake of corporate accounting scandals that shook investor confidence.
\”We will use the full weight of the law to expose and root out corruption,\” Bush said on July 9, 2002. \”My administration will do everything in our power to end the days of cooking the books, shading the truth and breaking our laws.\”
According to CNN at the time:
\”Bush\’s speech was designed in part to refute critics who have called him too cozy with Corporate America — particularly Democrats who, in a congressional election year, seem unlikely to cut him much slack, especially after raising questions about his own past business dealings.\”
\”The speech, which the administration had been advertising for weeks in advance, came a day after the president held an impromptu news conference and was forced to defend his sale of stock in Harken Energy 12 years
\”As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the
hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things
there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel
didn\’t exist and couldn\’t be produced. So I\’m not real happy with that and I
want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys
outweigh the wishes of their clients.\”
Gary T. Fye, an expert in the analysis of disputed insurance claims who
lives in Nevada, often testifies in insurance cases. Fye, who said he has
testified on behalf of policyholders and insurance companies, has provided
the courts information on State Farm\’s history of destroying and withholding
records.
In 1998, Fye wrote in a Florida case
\”I have been witnessing document destruction, concealment, and obstruction
of discovery by State Farm for many years in connection with my review of
internal claim practices documents of the insurer. I have accumulated
certain Exhibits which show the company\’s goals and objectives for document
handling by its employees. The documents show close to 28 years of
intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices
records.\”
In some cases, company executives did not keep records.
Jeff Marr, the attorney suing State Farm in Oklahoma, took sworn testimony
Sept. 6 from Rust. Topics included Rust\’s Chairman\’s Council, made up of top
State Farm executives. The group, which includes the company\’s general
counsel, meets quarterly.
Marr was fishing for records of those meetings that he could subpoena for
his lawsuit.
\”Certainly,\” Marr asked Rust, \”you keep records of the quarterly meetings
where the entire Chairman\’s Council is present?\”
\”We have an agenda,\” Rust said, \”but minutes in that, no.\”
\”Why not?\” Marr asked.
Rust replied, \”Never felt a need to.\”
Marr later asked, \”Are there any written agendas that are available should I
choose to request them in the lawsuit?\”
\”I\’m not sure what might be available,\” Rust said.
Rust also said policyholders, who essentially own the private mutual
company, are not entitled to know what the Chairman\’s Council discusses or
decides about litigation against State Farm, citing attorney-client
privilege.
Marr questioned why the company would withhold information from
policyholders, who own State Farm.
\”Well, again,\” said Rust (who has a law degree), \”I\’m not an expert in the
area, but I think as you find — even if I\’m a shareholder in a publicly
traded company, there are things that are not — you know, I do not have
access to.\”
Marr later asked if policyholders have a right to see documents from State
Farm\’s investigation of Haag.
\”No,\” Rust said.
\”Why not?\” Marr asked. \”Is it privileged?\”
Rust said, \”I believe so.\”
“This is another desperate attempt to discredit and disqualify anyone who threatens to expose State Farm. This effort is part of an orchestrated campaign to direct the attention away from State Farm’s conduct and onto persons who threaten to expose their conduct