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Chiropractor pleads guilty to fraud in accident-staging ring
[November 05, 2012]

Chiropractor pleads guilty to fraud in accident-staging ring


Nov 06, 2012 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Broward chiropractor on Monday pleaded guilty to a federal charge connected to an accident-staging ring at two clinics in Palm Beach County, according to court records.



Jennifer Adams, 39, of Boca Raton, admitted to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud and agreed to pay more than $1.92 million in restitution to 10 insurance companies.

Adams admitted that she allowed her name to be used to establish two chiropractic clinics, Ovy Rehabilitation Medical Center, Inc. in West Palm Beach, and Chiropractic Office of South Florida, LLC in Palm Springs.


Both clinics were used to submit fraudulent insurance claims on behalf of "patients" who were involved in staged accidents and pretended they needed treatment, federal prosecutors said.

Recruiters found drivers and their friends or family members to take part in the faked accidents and then claim personal injury protection payments of $10,000 per person. The recruiters sent the "patients" to clinics where staff filed fraudulent paperwork for them.

Adams admitted that she signed off on prescriptions and paperwork falsely claiming that full, lengthy examinations and treatments were provided when she knew that participants got little or no treatment.

Adams got hired after responding to an ad on Craigslist in November 2009, she said. She initially believed the clinics were legitimate but was later told about the fraud, according to court records.

Adams, who has been a chiropractor in Florida since 1999 and also practiced in Fort Lauderdale, agreed to give up her medical licenses.

She appeared to be the owner of the clinics, but prosecutors said that her co-conspirators, who took most of the profits, were actually running them and controlled the bank accounts. Adams was paid a salary of $1,200 a week to work for four hours, investigators said.

The maximum punishment is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 though she will likely face a much lesser penalty when she is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley in federal court in West Palm Beach in the next several weeks.

[email protected], 954-356-4533 or Twitter @SentinelPaula ___ (c)2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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