Lawyers, surgeon sentenced in 'massive' $31M trip-and-fall scheme
Two attorneys from Nassau County and a doctor from Suffolk were sentenced this week and ordered to pay restitution for their roles in what authorities described as a "massive trip-and-fall scheme" that bilked businesses and insurance companies out of more than $31 million.
Attorney George Constantine, 60, of Plainview, and orthopedic surgeon Andrew Dowd, 67, of Miller Place, were each sentenced to 8½ years in prison. They were convicted in December of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Attorney Marc Elefant, 50, of Woodmere, who had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was sentenced to 2 years in prison.
The injury-fraud scheme took place between 2013 and 2018, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
It involved faked and staged accidents, authorities said, and enlisted hundreds of disadvantaged people — poor, homeless or addicted to drugs — as "patients" who were subjected to unneeded surgeries.
"George Constantine, Andrew Dowd, and Marc Elefant abused their professional licenses and degrees and exploited some of the most vulnerable members of society … in order to enrich themselves through this egregious trip-and-fall fraud scheme," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement, adding: "As officers of the court, Constantine and Elefant had a duty to honestly represent their clients and uphold the rule of law. Instead, they filed hundreds of fraudulent lawsuits that were filled with lies and stole millions of dollars from small businesses and insurance companies.
"Likewise, Dowd, as a medical doctor, took an oath to do no harm. But motivated by pure greed, Dowd performed hundreds of medically unnecessary surgeries, earning thousands of dollars per surgery," Williams said.
All three also were sentenced to 3 years of post-release supervision and ordered to pay restitution. Constantine was ordered to pay $4,774,709 in forfeiture, Dowd $2,900,905 and Elefant $955,281.54. Restitution will be decided by the court within 90 days of the sentencing, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
According to the indictment, as well as evidence at trial and other statements and documents, the U.S. Attorney's office said that the trio, among unnamed others, staged trip-and-fall accidents throughout the metropolitan area and then filed what officials said were fraudulent lawsuits.
Constantine filed about 200 fraudulent lawsuits and earned more than $5 million in settlement fees, officials said. Elefant also filed about 200 fraudulent suits, earning millions in settlement fees.
Additionally, Dowd performed nearly 300 unnecessary surgeries, earning more than $3.2 million, officials said..
More than 400 would-be "patients" were recruited as part of the fabricated and staged trip-and-fall accidents, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Most of those participants were described only as being "extremely poor" — a number of whom, so indigent they often asked for food when they appeared for their "intake" meetings with the lawyers. Many were homeless, recruited from shelters, or addicted to drugs, the U.S. Attorney's office said, noting in a statement: "Many of the patients did not have sufficient clothing to keep them warm during the winter and had poor quality shoes."
Officials said the scheme began with the participants instructing "patients" to claim they'd suffered a trip-and-fall accident, but later evolved to having them actually take part in deliberately staged incidents — often at sites that included cellar doors, cracks in sidewalks or areas with purported "potholes."
"These sentences send a clear message to all who chose to engage in fraud — no matter their professional title or degree — that they will be held accountable,” Williams said.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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