Florida Insurance Lawyer Maria Elena Abate Highlights Insurance “Ghosts” at 2016 Claims and Litigation Management Atlanta Conference
May 17, 2016
Colodny Fass Fraud-Fighting Lawyer Maria Elena Abate to Join Olympus, Admiralty Insurance on Insurance Claims Panel
Insurance policies aren’t what most people think of when it comes to identity theft or fraud, but Colodny Fass attorney Maria Elena Abate is preparing to educate other lawyers this week about stopping what the insurance industry calls “ghosts”–people who use fictitious identities to obtain insurance policies or use certain transactions to secure claims payments or other profit.
A South Florida-based veteran litigator with nearly 30 years of experience, Ms. Abate will join executives from Olympus Insurance and Admiralty Insurance at the 2016 Claims and Litigation Management Atlanta Conference for a panel entitled “Identity Theft and Identity Fraud – Does It Affect Insurance Claims?” on Thursday, May 19 at 2 p.m.
Their session will include an explanation of the difference between identity theft and identity fraud, along with steps that insurers can take to train representatives and agents on how to detect a “ghost.”
Rampant in organized auto insurance fraud, for example, “ghosts” will steal the identities of legitimate policyholders, create new identification documents based on certain information, apply for multiple insurance policies with different companies, then file claims with the various companies using different accident dates. Often complicit in the schemes will be body shops, other attorneys and medical providers.
Ms. Abate, who earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, cum laude, has built her reputation and expertise in the areas of complex commercial litigation, insurance defense, bad faith and class action defense, as well as employment law and civil rights issues, serves as Managing Partner of Colodny Fass’ award-winning Litigation Division.
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