A man who spent years acting as a supposed advocate for injured motorists may have taken his duties too far.
By his own admission, 65-year-old Joseph Haddad persuaded accident victims to not only fabricate injuries but also seek powerful prescription pain killers and unnecessary, often prolonged medical treatment. Although some cases may have at first been legitimate—when Haddad met with clients in his law offices in Trumbull and Bridgeport, Conn.—an alarming number of them would serve as a vehicle by which Haddad could command a cut of ill-gotten insurance proceeds.
As investigators would learn, Haddad did not act alone. Rather, he was in cahoots with at least six other professionals, including an area doctor and four chiropractors, who admittedly succumbed to the temptation of “easy money.”
An FBI investigation dubbed “Operation Running Man” ultimately revealed the extent of Haddad’s involvement in filing fraudulent personal injury claims to multiple insurance carriers. FBI Special Agent Daniel Curtin coordinated the probe, sending an undercover agent to Haddad for consult. The agent claimed told Haddad he had been injured in a car accident. At one point, Haddad advised the agent to request stronger medication “even if [he] wouldn’t take it” and to also seek 6 months of treatment (at minimum) from designated chiropractors. According to court documents, Haddad explained the timeframe was necessary “because that way, [he has] a good quality case, and they can't say [the injured client] didn't treat long enough."
Documents filed in federal court further allege that Haddad paid cash to individuals to scrounge up clients involved in motor vehicle accidents. Often those runners would review and obtain accident records from local police departments, particularly Bridgeport. After meeting with clients, Haddad recommended they visit Francisco Carbone, a former doctor with a prior federal health fraud conviction and whose license was pulled by the state. Carbone then completed injury reports and provided permanent disability ratings, often without physically examining clients.
Authorities say that Haddad occasionally would send clients with instructions to Dr. James Marshall, who operated Immediate Medical Care in Monroe, Conn. (Marshall would later plead guilty to charges related to filing fraudulent medical claims). Next, Marshall would write prescriptions for narcotic pain killers, and similar to Carbone, would often do so without actually examining the patient.
Those fees associated with unnecessary diagnostic tests certainly add up. For example, chiropractors who sent a patient for a nerve conductivity test provided by Kirschner's Midas Medical (another business implicated in the FBI probe) would typically receive a kickback on the $2,000 bill, according to the FBI.
Haddad negotiated a plea agreement with prosecutors and is the seventh person to plead guilty as a result of Operation Running Man. The others who copped to their crimes are Dr. James Marshall and Francisco Carbone, along with four chiropractors: Marc Kirshner, who owned and operated clinics in Bridgeport and Stamford as well as Midas Medical, LLC, a diagnostic testing company; George DeCarvalho; Jennifer Lynne; and Jennifer Netter. All are currently awaiting sentencing.
In late December, Haddad appeared before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill and admitted guilt to charges of conspiring to commit mail fraud and mail fraud, both of which carry maximum 20-year terms. However, he agreed not to appeal any sentence of 63 months or less imposed by Underhill on March 28. That agreement is part of a plea-bargain deal coordinated by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Schmeisser and David Sheldon and Haddad’s lawyer, John R. Williams.
Additionally, Haddad agreed to pay $1,758,368 in restitution to the various insurers he helped defraud. These include Nationwide, Travelers, Progressive, Metropolitan and Esurance.
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