A widespread conspiracy was stopped when Federal agents infiltrated a network of auto insurance scammers as they tried to recruit a “victim” who was actually an FBI agent. The D.C. police teamed up with the FBI to put an end to the nefarious scheme. The undercover operation was intercepted when a false auto accident report was put into the police department’s system.

Alba Bustamante contacted the undercover agent. He wanted to refer the agent/victim to Ryan A. Lahuti, an attorney handling personal injury cases. The undercover agent explained he was not hurt in the accident. Bustamente said it did not matter. If the undercover agent/victim would cooperate, he could be paid a substantial amount of money as a fee for participating in a plan to defraud the auto insurance company.

The agent played along with Bustamante, whodrove him to a chiropractor’s office. The chiropractor, who was in cahoots with Bustamante, advised him to take advantage of the circumstances by undergoing treatment for theinjury. Following that, the attorney’s assistant, Nancy Yaneth Reyes, told him the next step in the deception was to visit the chiropractor twenty-five times. Lahuti’s office filed a claim with the auto insurance company for $8,000, for chiropractic treatment.

The auto insurance claim was settled for $2,000 and the undercover agent received $800 by check. Cohorts Bustamante and Kenneth Carlton Williams were charged with health care fraud and wire fraud. Charges were filed against Reyes and Lahuti, the attorney, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The FBI and D.C. police department curtailed the longtime auto insurance defrauders with their clever sting operation.

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