Personal Injury Fraud Is A Criminal Offense
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
The role of a civil lawsuit is to get justice for a client that has been victimized by something not necessarily considered a criminal act. When people are injured by malicious assault, or even lose their lives in the act of deliberate murder, these are criminal acts, and there is an entirely separate criminal justice system to deal with these kinds of offenses.But then there are other acts which can cause harm and are definitely considered unfair or unethical, but not necessarily acts of a criminal. When punishing a wrongful act with a jail sentence is not appropriate, the law turns to try to compensate the victim instead, by making the offender offer financial compensation for what’s been done. These are known as civil lawsuits, and the payment for them can be lucrative. This is why, unfortunately, people can sometimes abuse the legal system to get some of that compensation for themselves.
This, however, is not just wrong; it is considered illegal and will be dealt with by the law in a severe fashion.
The Case Of Julija Adlesic
In September of 2020, a 22-year-old Slovenian woman named Julija Adlesic was found guilty in a Slovenian court of law of committing a crime. In this case, she lied about her hand being amputated and is now facing a two-year jail sentence, while her boyfriend, who aided in the attempt, faces a three-year jail sentence as well. The one thing they were not lying about was the fact that her hand had been cut off at the wrist. All circumstances surrounding it, however, were a deliberate lie for money, to try to take advantage of the Slovenian legal equivalent of concepts such as premises liability.
Premises liability is a legal idea that states the owners of a property must exercise reasonable caution in trying to maintain a safe environment. If the property owners see an easily preventable risk that could cause an injury and neglect to address that risk, they are legally responsible if an injury occurs due to their willful neglect of that risk.
This means that under ordinary circumstances, if a property that bears some responsibility refuses to acknowledge their role, then a lawsuit forcefully settles the matter.
Accidents Must Be Legitimate
Of course, the purpose of a personal injury lawsuit is to get proper compensation from an unwilling person or company that refuses to acknowledge their role in creating an accidental injury. The keyword here is “accident.” If the injury was deliberate, especially if the victim perpetrated it, that is far from an accident and now considered an act of fraud, which, in the United States, is a criminal offense.
This is what happened with Julija Adlesic, whom the court found guilty of fraud. As the investigation was conducted, too much evidence was discovered that indicated preparation, rather than a random occurrence. Adlesic’s boyfriend, for example, was found to have researched hand amputations in the days before the accident occurred. Adlesic herself took out five separate insurance policies on herself, all with payouts associated with injuries.
On the day of the accident, the couple also attempted to seek treatment while leaving the hand behind, to increase the odds that the disfigurement would be permanent, requiring a higher payout. However, medical teams were able to retrieve and save the hand.
The Consequences
Insurance companies often act on behalf of property owners and private individuals when it comes to payout for personal injury lawsuits. Very rarely does an individual or company have to pay for compensation using their own funds. As a result, some people view insurance fraud as a “victimless crime,” since no single individual is being deprived of their funds in this way.
However, while the idea of “free money” from either faking or deliberately inflicting a real injury under fake circumstances seems appealing, the penalties are harsh. Fraud is taken very seriously by both the court and the insurance companies that payout compensation. As a result, a lot of investigation is conducted both to verify the details of an insurance claim for archival purposes, and to ensure the legitimacy of the claim, and eliminate fraud as a possible motive for the claim.
Even if an initial investigation may uncover nothing, that doesn’t’ mean a fraud attempt succeeds, especially if a civil lawsuit moves forward. Now lawyers may conduct additional investigations to corroborate—or dispute—the initial claims and investigation results.
However, if you’re injured in a real accident and negligence on the part of someone else is at the cause of the injury, you deserve compensation. You can get it when you talk to a personal injury lawyer, who can assess your case, and, if it’s required, be your advocate in negotiating for a settlement or fighting for your rights and your compensation in a civil lawsuit.