A senior leader of a massive no-fault auto insurance scheme, which spanned two states and involved bribing emergency personnel and medical professionals for accident victim information, was sentenced to seven years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
From at least 2013 until 2019, Jelani Wray bribed and “arranged for others to bribe,” 911 operators, hospital workers and police officers for confidential information on tens of thousands of accident victims. The scheme participants would then contact the victims, lie to them and then steer them to clinics and lawyers, who paid Wray and his associates kickbacks for the referrals, according to SDNY.
In 2013, Wray also worked as a manager of a medical clinic and would give co-conspirator Anthony Rose $2,000-$3,000 per patient as an illegal referral fee, according to the district attorney’s office.
Around 2016, Wray began recruiting and acquiring his own “lead sources,” bribing at least five NYPD 911 operators. This information was then transferred to a call center operated by Rose and funded by Wray. The call center would contact accident victims and steer them toward preferred clinics and lawyers, who paid kickbacks to Rose and Wray. SDNY reported Wray would also recruit attorneys and clinics to take part in this portion of the scheme.
Aiming for further vertical integration, Wray and Rose teamed up with a paralegal and a physician (the latter two were not named) to open a clinic in the Bronx in 2017. They then steered patients to that operation, which Wray “exercised substantial control over,” SDNY reported, noting this is an illegal practice under New York law as Wray is not a physician.
For his illegal efforts, Wray received millions of dollars in profits.
“Jelani Wray and the other leaders of this scheme brazenly exploited New York’s no-fault automobile insurance laws by lining their pockets with millions of dollars in illegal profits,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release. “In the process, they corrupted 911 operators, hospital workers and police officers; injured accident victims by depriving them of a choice in medical providers and attorneys, lying to them, and subjecting these victims to unwanted medical treatments; and caused licensed drivers in the state of New York to suffer higher insurance premiums by enabling the submission of millions of dollars in false medical reimbursement claims. Wray and his co-conspirators will now pay for their crimes, and this office will never stop pursuing those who seek to profit by corrupting our public institutions.”
In addition to his prison term, which will be followed by three years of supervised release, Wray was ordered to forfeit some $2.2 million and was fined $250,000.
Rose received a two-year prison sentence, two years of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit $69,000. In total, 27 people admitted guilt in the scheme, of which 10 have been sentenced to serve prison time, according to SDNY. Approximately $5 million in forfeitures have been levied against the defendants.