April 14, 2023

A litigation funder was sentenced on Thursday for his participation in a $31 million personal injury fraud scheme that allegedly also involved two attorneys and two doctors, among others.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said Adrian Alexander, 76, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for taking part in a scam that defrauded businesses and insurance companies with fraudulent lawsuits over staged tip-and-fall accidents.

Alexander, attorneys Marc Elefant and George Constantine, and doctors Andrew Dowd and Sady Ribeiro were indicted, opens new tab in 2021 for allegedly participating in a scheme between 2013 and 2018 in which poor and often homeless or drug-addicted people in New York City were recruited to stage trip-and-fall accidents at particular business locations.

The faked personal injuries were referred to attorneys to file lawsuits against the businesses and insurers, prosecutors said. The individuals were allegedly required to undergo surgery if they wanted to proceed with their lawsuits and received post-surgical payments of between $1,000 and $1,500 per surgery.

Medical and legal expenses were often paid by litigation funders, including a company owned by Alexander, at high rates of interest to the individuals, up to 50% on medical loans and up to 100% on personal loans, prosecutors said. The majority of proceeds recovered in the lawsuits often went to the funders and others scheme participants, so individuals received little to none of the awards.