Jennifer Snyder asked and explained lucidly as well as any good professor, “What is a material lie?  A material lie is an intentionally false statement that impacts the outcome.  The carrier says, ‘We wouldn’t have paid that, we would have handled this differently.’ The doctor says, ‘We wouldn’t have put him on TTD. I would have billed their private health insurance carrier and not their workers’ compensation carrier.’  That’s material.   Zip codes?  Lying about one’s weight?   Yes, ladies, your weight is not material.  Material lies are those that would have impacted the outcome.  Hair color?  Not either.” 

Jennifer instructed the audience to think of themselves as jurors.  “Is the evidence strong enough that you and 11 of your closest friends would be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt?   In order for us to file a criminal case I have to be convinced that the evidence is so strong that there’s a reasonable probability that a jury of 12 will all agree to what that evidence proves. “

Some individuals may think that’s ridiculous but it’s what’s happening every day in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and throughout the country.   “I am looking for strength of evidence.”

Jennifer explained that what makes for a successful criminal case is compelling evidence.  Compelling evidence is evidence that is corroborated.   And corroboration can be anything that tends in reason to support a given fact.

“It’s paper mache.  How many of us have done paper mache projects with our children?  When it starts out it looks like a hot mess.   You add layers, and all of a sudden the thing, whatever it is, starts to take shape.  Corroboration is exactly the same thing.  What you see in the work place may be corroborative.  What somebody posts on their Facebook page.  What somebody wrote on their blogger.   What one person see or hears may well be corroborative of the given fact.  Which takes me back to the rule I asked before that I’ve learned to live with:  is that if it isn’t written down it didn’t happen. “

Laura Clifford, right, director of the Employers' Fraud Task Force, invited Captain David Goldberg, left, of the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division to speak at the Christmas Party luncheon in December together with Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Snyder. 

Jennifer grilled the audience with her dictum that if one knows something one needs to write it down.  If one has a suspicion one must write it down.   “It is a lot easier for us to say, ‘tell me Captain, why is it that you recall that incident six years ago?’ ‘Well, at the time it struck me as being weird, so I wrote it down on a piece of paper.’   That helps us out because in addition to being corroborative you also have to understand it’s going to be subject to the scrutiny of the jurors who will say ‘does that make sense?’  Because corroboration makes people use their common sense.” 

One question Jennifer Snyder said she always gets from adjusters is “Do cases ever get filed?”   She good-humoredly conceded that she gets asked that all the time and that they in the District Attorney’s office get evidence from various different sources.   “We want to make sure that whatever we walk into court with is strong.  Why?  Because what goes into court is the best representation of what it is that really is out there.  And we want to show that what we are demonstrating to the public is that we’re doing good investigations and we are getting it right the first time.

Jennifer sheparded the City of Bell prosecution.   She got the case in June and her office filed it in September. She stated that if she had been interested in solving all of the curiosity questions plus answering all of her innate questions about what was going on in Bell and why, she and her office would probably still be investigating the case.  And they wouldn’t have six convictions. 

“We may not answer every question that somebody has, but we are going to have sufficient evidence to prove whatever charges are appropriate.  Ultimately our goal is to take bad actors out of play.   We aren’t just charging fraud charges, but we’re also charging grand theft charges.  Why?  Because a contractor enters a bid, for say, janitorial services.  And they say, ‘We’re going to clean all those buildings for $100,000.’  And they underbid everybody else.”

The contractor wins the bid but it turns out there was a reason they were able to perform the contract for $100,000.  They pay everybody in cash.  They don’t pay workers’ comp insurance.   They don’t pay other things required by law.  “Then I can file grand theft because they lied when they got the contract.  And when I file grand theft not only do they have to pay for the premiums that they didn’t pay, they have to return every cent they got under the contract.  So, now instead of being a $150,000 or $200,000 case, it may be a million dollar case.  It also means that person is going to be disqualified as a vendor.” 

Captain David Goldberg of the State of California Department of Insurance Fraud Division encouraged adjusters and legal professionals to contact him with information pertaining to suspected fraud at david.goldberg@insurance.ca.gov.  

This helps the other businesses that have competed.   It helps all the citizens of this country.    “These are the kinds of things that we’re going to broaden the scope of to be sure that the bad behavior isn’t tolerated. “

Jennifer said that for other people in other forms of insurance fraud that her office might not be able to make a case for, they are looking at the tax consequences.   “Trust me, if there’s anything you don’t want it’s having the FTB (Franchise Tax Board) following you around.  They are relentless.   Their rules are much more general.  So, tax fraud in some circumstances is an easier way to take out a bad player, and have the same end result.” 

Filing criminal fraud cases is a long process.   “So have faith and a little patience.”  Does anybody ever really get punished?  “Sometimes.  Maybe 109 is realignment.  Under realignment the only people who are eligible for state prison are those who commit acts of violence and fraud is not within that.  The exceptions are cases of $100,000 or more.  There can be jail sentences or local prison for people who commit fraud for under $100,000, but that means they go to county jail.  And then it becomes a matter of administration and our local sheriff decides whether or not they’re going to stay there.” 

White collar criminals know that the system is going to favor keeping criminally violent gang members in prison ahead of them.   “Can we change that?” Jennifer asks and then answers:  “Not immediately.  We can make it so cost prohibitive that we have an impact.  That’s where broadening the scope of the charges that we file comes into play.  Because if a bad guy is saying listen, if I don’t pay the insurance, if I pay everybody under the table, and I don’t pay that 40%, what are my chances of getting caught?  If I get caught and all I have to do is pay the premium? What the hell, that’s a good business decision.” 

But the DA’s office is making the cases so that the bad actors have to pay the premium plus pay back all the money they earned in the process. This makes their actions cost prohibitive.  Under the circumstances, with the DA’s office doing the best they can, this

was the best punishment they could come up with.  And if someone is doing 1200 hours of work for Caltrans cleaning up the freeways, “that’s 1200 hours they won’t be spending doing other scams.” 

Only in the very large cases will the perpetrators go to state prison.  “Trust me when I tell you that understanding the aspects of punishment can create a positive environment for criminals.  But we’re doing what we can under the law.” 

Another thing Jennifer Snyder is doing is working to prevent growing fraud.  There is a large growth of it, plus there’s an expansion in the use of electronic signatures.  “The evidence code is 30 years behind the times.  So, I am working with the district attorneys’ association to create legislation so that we can get into court with these people that are using the Internet as a way of perpetrating crime.

“Keep in mind, any time I prosecute a crime I can’t charge a company.   I can’t charge an entity.  I need a picture of a defendant in order to file a criminal charge.  My job is to find the crooks.  And in order to prosecute a crook, I need a name and a picture.  So, help me to do that by letting us know what’s going on, letting us know what you see.  I’d rather hear from you too much than not enough.” 

She says she’s dead serious about this.  “Is there anyone you can talk to about this?  The answer is an uncategorical, absolute yes.  Call me.  Text me.  Write me.  Email me.   Or Patrick Goldberg.”

Jennifer says that if she can’t handle it, she will find a place for it.  “I will tell you if it sounds like something that ought to be reported.  Err on the side of contact.  

"Because until we make greater inroads on this, until we can have a broader impact, there are going to be segments of our society that are going to capitalize on what is largely an honor system.  Democracy is based upon honor.  Democracy is based upon truth and justice.  So, for those of us that really believe in the system, we have to do battle and understand that there is no acceptable crime. 

“There are administrative things you can do which I would encourage you to do.  To drop this tolerance of lies.  And if it’s a material lie—make my day.  Send me an email, and we’ll go after it.  Thank you for your time and attention.   I wish you a glorious new year and happy holiday season.”

If you are an adjuster or an attorney and you suspect workers' compensation, other medical, or any other type of insurance fraud, contact Jennifer Snyder, Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles DA's office at: jsnyder@da.lacounty.gov, or also contact David Goldberg, California Department of Insurance Fraud Division at david.goldberg@insurance.ca.gov.   

lonce@adjuster.com, by journalist Lonce LaMon; copyright adjustercom and Lonce LaMon; all rights reserved.