The courtroom began to buzz again, and Judge Fritz banged his gavel to quiet the court.
“Insurance fraud?” Prosecutor Swartz asked.
The defense attorneys began to whisper to each other.
“Ms. Odums, please explain to the court what you are talking about.”
Kyle stood. “Objection, Your Honor! The witness is speculating,”
“Overruled. Continue, young lady,” Judge Fritz told Karen, interested in what she had to say.
“Diamond would bring in fake accident patients. They would come to Dr. Ricci for weekly visits. And Dr. Ricci would file the claim and get paid for each visit, although the patients had no injuries.”
“So let me get this straight. These patients who came into the doctor’s office were not real patients?”
“No.”
“Dr. Ricci would set up fraudulent claims to collect money on each patient’s visit?”
“Yes.”
“Go on,” Prosecutor Swartz said, taking her seat and crossing her legs.
“Well, apparently the patients would set up fake car accidents which really weren’t that bad, but they would say they were injured. They would come to Dr. Ricci’s office, although they didn’t really need treatment. He would bill the auto insurance company for the treatment, and then each client would file suit against the other driver who hit them. With Dr. Ricci documenting the person’s injuries, the cases usually settled, and everyone got a cut of the claim, including the lawyer.”
“Wow! So the doctor and the defendant had a little fraud operation going on, huh?” Prosecutor Swartz looked over at the defense table.
“Objection, Your Honor!” Kyle said yet again. “There is no proof of any of these accusations. This witness is purely speculating.”
“Your Honor, there is proof.” Prosecutor Swartz snatched up several pieces of paper from the table and marched them over to the judge. “Your Honor, in my hand I hold a signed statement given to the police department by the witness Karen Odums.”
Judge Fritz looked at the statement and then handed it back to Prosecutor Swartz.
Prosecutor Swartz walked over to Karen and handed her the statement. “Ms. Odums, is this the actual fraudulent case and file on a patient that you turned into the police?”
Karen looked at the papers and then handed them back to the attorney. “Yes, it is.”
“Your Honor, I also hold in my hand the arrest records of several patients involved, as well as the accused attorney for the case.” She then turned to Karen. “Why don’t you explain to the court what your statement says.” She walked over to the jury to show them the documents.
“Well, I found out about the fraud cases when I stayed late one night. I overheard a conversation that Diamond was having on the telephone with someone. She was in Dr. Ricci’s office using his phone. She told the person on the phone that if they didn’t keep up with their therapy, they weren’t going to get that much money when they sued. I heard her call the person’s name out, and I took the liberty to make a mental note of the name I heard.”
“Objection, Your Honor!”
“Overruled.”
Prosecutor Swartz said, “Go on, Ms. Odums.”
“Well, when Diamond hung up the phone, she and Dr. Ricci began to discuss the telephone conversation. I heard the two of them talk about new accident cases that hadn’t even happened yet. I heard Diamond tell him that she had some guy friends of hers that were going to set up the fake accidents. I remembered one particular scheme because she said the street where the accident was gonna take place, and that is the street where my mother lives.
“I waited until new patients came to the office several days later for therapy, and sure enough, the young man who had the accident on my mother’s street was there for therapy. I looked up the other name I had heard her talk to on the phone and I found two people with the same first name, Derrick. But one of those Derricks I knew as a longtime patient because he has a herniated disk in his back and had been coming to the office for over a year. The other Derrick was a brand-new patient, and yes, his file was created three weeks prior, and he had only come for one treatment.”
Conversations erupted in the courtroom.
Bang! Bang!
“Order in the court!” Judge Fritz yelled.
After the courtroom settled down, Prosecutor Swartz then asked, “Ms. Odums, do you know the other defendant, Dante Reed?”