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Wednesday, March 26, 1997

8 plead guilty to faking accidents to get insurance payments

DALLAS (AP) - Eight people have pleaded guilty to charges they staged more than 700 automobile accidents to bilk insurance companies.

Federal prosecutors allege that the eight people and 10 other defendants stole more than $6 million from insurance companies over a three-year period by staging accidents and filing bogus medical claims.

Seven of the 10 other defendants are still at large.

The Filipino-dominated group involved innocent people in some of their accidents, according to court records.

"False schemes to generate insurance settlements are not victimless crimes," said Doug Gastorf, chief of criminal investigations for the Dallas office of the Internal Revenue Service. "We're all affected when the costs of insurance premiums go up due to someone else's greed."

Federal officials said the injuries sustained by victims in Dallas and Tarrant counties are not believed to have been serious. But they acknowledged that some people may have been badly injured in staged incidents that officials haven't become aware of yet.

Some people who were not injured lost money after accidents with members of the conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins said. Not only did they have to pay for repairs, their insurance rates increased, Coggins said.

"Innocent people were targeted. Innocent people were victimized," Coggins said.

Benjamin Bilbao Ros, 44, of Long Beach, Calif., planned much of the conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with government investigators, according to an affidavit by Special Agent Timothy W. Clarke of the U.S. Secret Service.

Ros has signed court documents admitting that he organized law offices in Dallas, Arlington and Houston to fleece insurers from 1994 until January of this year.

Ros, a native of the Philippines, is accused of organizing doctors, physical therapists and lawyers to prepare bogus paperwork needed to claim money from insurance companies, Clarke said in the affidavit.

The Dallas Therapeutic Clinic and DFW Therapeutic Clinic in Arlington, both now defunct, were used to phone in the phony medical claims, according to court records.

Dr. Teodulo Poscablo, 48, of Irving is accused of controlling both clinics. Charged with conspiracy, Poscablo, a citizen of the Philippines, is listed as a fugitive.

The Secret Service and IRS are continuing the nationwide investigation with assistance from the police departments in Irving and Dallas. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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