State Farm accused of Katrina racketeering
Federal lawsuit claims insurance company manipulated damage reports

NEW ORLEANS - State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. engaged in a “pattern of racketeering” by manipulating engineering reports on Hurricane Katrina damage so the company could deny policyholder claims, lawyers for a group of Mississippi homeowners allege in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Wednesday’s lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi Gulf Coast homeowners is the first in which Scruggs and his legal team accused an insurer of violating the civil Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act, commonly known as RICO.

Ah. Insurance companies as a criminal conspiracy. Who’d a thunk it?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 5:59 am and is filed under Points to Ponder. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.