St. Paul lawyer accused of defrauding auto insurers with false chiropractic claims [Pioneer Press] – InsuranceNewsNet

A St. Paul personal injury lawyer was part of a scheme to defraud car insurers by recruiting patients for chiropractic services, according to a conspiracy charge filed Wednesday in United States District Court.

Brad Ratgen52, was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Prosecutors used a charging document called an information, not an indictment, which usually means the accused has agreed to plead guilty to the charge. Ratgen is due in court for his arraignment November 10.

According to reports, Ratgen conspired with others from at least 2015 until last December to defraud auto insurers under the state’s No-Fault Insurance Act, which requires insurers to pay medical bills. of their customers, whether the accident is their fault or not.

He says he provided legal representation to a person he knew had been illegally recruited to be a chiropractic patient and who threatened legal action against an auto insurance company.

federal prosecutors of Minnesota have charged at least 20 other people for their role in similar frauds over the past six years.

In December 2016, they announced charges against four chiropractors who allegedly made millions from “almost identical” but unrelated conspiracies; 15 patient recruiters, known as “runners”, were also charged at the time.

Ratgen appears to be the second attorney charged with the same type of scheme. In November 2020, Minnetonka Lawyer William Kyle Sutor III was sentenced to 16 months in prison after admitting to hiring riders who claimed to have been injured in car crashes.

Ratgen, who lives in Hugo and has a law office in the St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood, did not return a phone message Wednesday. Related articles

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