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A senior leader of the massive no-fault auto insurance fraud scheme has been sentenced to seven years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. 

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe issued the sentence against Jelani Wray, one of the leaders of the no-fault auto insurance scheme in New York and New Jersey. In October 2021, he pleaded guilty to bribing a federal agent.

In November 2019, Wray was among the 27 individuals including five 911 operators and a New York City police officer were arrested and indicted for their roles in the multi-million dollars no-fault auto insurance fraud scheme.

Wray and his co-conspirators bribed 911 operators, medical personnel and police officers to obtain the confidential information of tens of thousands of people involved in motor vehicle accidents.

Using the information, Wray and his co-conspirators contacted motor vehicle accident victims. lied to them, and directed to clinics and lawyers whom they handpicked. These clinics and lawyers then paid kickbacks to Wray and his co-conspirators.

Wray was working as a manager of a medical clinic in approximately 2013.  A co-conspirator Anthony Rose and Wray reach an agreement regarding patient referrals to the clinic. Wray agreed to pay Rose around $2,000 to $3,000 in illegal referral fees, according to allegations in the indictment, superseding information, and court filings.

Around 2016, Wray started recruiting and acquiring his own "lead sources." These were individuals willing to sell confidential information of motor vehicle accident victims. He bribed at least five NYPD 911 operators to get the names and numbers of people involved in motor vehicle accidents from 2016 to around December 2017.

Wray then transfereed the information to an illegal call center, which he partly funded and operated by Rose. The call center contacted the unsuspecting accident victims, lied to them, and steered them to clinics and lawyers involved in the Wray and Rose's illegal referral network. The clinics and lawyers paid them kickbacks in cash and checks.

Wray received millions of dollars in illegal profits from his involvement in the different aspects of the no-fault auto insurance fraiud scheme.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Jelani Wray and the other leaders of this scheme brazenly exploited New York’s no fault automobile insurance laws by lining their pockets with millions of dollars in illegal profits."

He also noted that Wray and his co-conspirators "corrupted 911 operators, hospital workers and police officers; injured accident victims by depriving them of a choice in medical providers and attorneys, lying to them, and subjecting these victims to unwanted medical treatments."

Wray and his co-conspirators also "caused licensed drivers in the state of New York to suffer higher insurance premiums by enabling the submission of millions of dollars in false medical reimbursement claims," according to U.S. Attorney Williams.

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