RICO lawsuit news heading into late 2026 is dominated by four storylines: a Supreme Court ruling that widened who can sue under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a flood of civil RICO cases filed by insurance companies against personal injury firms and medical clinics, federal convictions of two New Orleans attorneys who staged crashes with 18-wheelers, and a pipe manufacturer’s aggressive push to use RICO against the plaintiffs’ bar itself.
Supreme Court Broadens Who Can Sue
On April 2, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn by a 5–4 vote and expanded the kinds of harm a civil RICO plaintiff can recover for. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, held that “a plaintiff can seek damages for business or property loss regardless of whether the loss resulted from a personal injury.”1Gibson Dunn. Supreme Court Holds That Business and Property Harms Resulting From Personal Injury Can Be Available Under RICO The plaintiff was a commercial truck driver who lost his job after failing a drug test he blamed on a CBD product he said was falsely marketed as THC-free.
Federal appeals courts had split on whether economic losses tracing back to a bodily injury could satisfy RICO’s “business or property” requirement. The ruling ended that split and cleared the way for treble-damages claims covering lost wages and business revenue even where the origin of the harm was physical. The Court acknowledged that the decision might invite more RICO filings and said any tightening would need to come from Congress.2Holland & Knight. Supreme Court Ruling Expands Reach of Civil RICO Statute One practical consequence: defendants can no longer win an early dismissal simply by pointing out that the plaintiff’s economic loss stems from a personal injury.3WilmerHale. Supreme Court Expands the Scope of Injuries Under RICO
Insurers Are Filing Civil RICO Cases in Waves
The single biggest trend in RICO litigation right now is the volume of civil suits filed by insurance carriers against personal injury attorneys, medical providers, and, increasingly, litigation funders. The complaints follow a template: insurers allege that networks recruit accident victims through “runners,” steer them to affiliated clinics for unnecessary or fabricated treatment, and use the inflated medical bills to drive up settlement values. New York is the center of gravity, with parallel filings in Texas and Florida.
New York Filings
By mid-2025, Allstate alone had filed 45 RICO lawsuits targeting medical providers it accused of submitting fraudulent auto insurance claims.4Judicial Hellholes. New York City Others followed. In October 2025, Merchants Insurance Group filed a 170-page federal complaint alleging a “coordinated racketeering enterprise” involving the law firm William Schwitzer & Associates, medical providers including Community Medical Imaging and Total Orthopedics in Brooklyn, and a litigation funder called Case Cash.5Protecting American Consumers. Court Documents: Insurer Alleges NYC Injury Lawyers, Doctors and Funders Built a Fraud Scheme The complaint described a “closed-loop system” in which attorneys directed clients to specific clinics for scripted diagnoses and funders bankrolled unnecessary surgeries. In one example, the insurer said a $3.75 million settlement was divided so that Case Cash received about $1.78 million, attorneys took $950,000, and the injured worker received $500,000, or roughly 13 percent of the total.6Insurance Business Magazine. Merchants Insurance Uses RICO to Target Alleged New York Construction Fraud Ring
Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company filed three separate RICO suits in the Eastern District of New York in the spring of 2025. One targeted Liakas Law and several medical practices, one named Subin Associates and alleged kickbacks and falsified medical records, and one went after litigation funders directly, naming Casecash Funding, Case Cash GP, Corona 55 Funds, and RL SPV.7ICLG. Vermont Insurer Gunning for Personal Injury Firms
In January 2026, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company filed a 207-page RICO complaint in the Eastern District of New York against Liakas Law and dozens of medical providers, alleging a fraud enterprise operating since at least 2018. The insurer said it had digital evidence contradicting injury claims, including social media videos of claimants engaged in physical activities shortly after supposedly disabling accidents.8CourtListener. Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company v. Liakas Law, P.C. The case, before Judge Frederic Block, is at the motion-to-dismiss stage.9Harris Beach Murtha. Insurance Company Alleges Fraud Scheme With Staged Accidents and Litigation-Driven Medicine
Uber joined the pattern in January 2025, filing a RICO suit in the Eastern District of New York against Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin and several medical providers. Uber alleged the defendants colluded to fabricate or exaggerate injuries, including by bribing doctors to provide unnecessary treatments and false diagnoses.10Insurance Insider. Uber Technologies, Inc. v. Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP The defendants moved to dismiss, arguing Uber was weaponizing RICO to intimidate plaintiffs’ lawyers and that the claims were barred by the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, which protects the right to petition the courts. Discovery was stayed pending resolution.
In June 2026, three AmTrust Financial Services carriers — Wesco, Technology, and Associated Industries — filed a RICO suit in the Eastern District of New York against an unnamed New York law firm, surgeons, and surgical centers, alleging that runners recruited claimants, “gatekeeper clinics” generated records, and surgeons performed unnecessary invasive procedures. One claimant’s surgery and implants were billed at more than $216,000, and the case settled for $865,000.11Insurance Business Magazine. AmTrust Insurers Sue New York Law Firm and Surgeons Over Alleged Fraud Scheme
Texas and Florida
In April 2026, Allstate filed a RICO suit in the Southern District of Texas against members of the Roopani family and at least 16 related entities running medical clinics in the Houston area. Allstate said it paid $426,960 directly to the defendants and was forced to pay another $7.5 million in bodily injury claims based on what it called false medical documentation created by unlicensed individuals operating under the name of a figurehead physician.12Insurance Business Magazine. Allstate Unleashes RICO Suit Over Alleged $7.9 Million Auto Insurance Fraud13Repairer Driven News. Allstate Files $7.9 Million RICO Lawsuit Against Houston Medical Network
In October 2025, GEICO filed a RICO suit in the Middle District of Florida against Orlando-area chiropractic clinics run by Dr. Vincent Preziosi Jr. and Integrity Medical Group, alleging more than $3.5 million in fraudulent personal injury protection billings. GEICO claimed that Dr. Preziosi’s billing records showed him supervising more than 25 hours of therapy in a single day.14Insurance Business Magazine. GEICO Targets Florida Clinics in Sweeping $3.5 Million RICO Lawsuit
None of the defendants in any of these insurer-filed cases have been found liable, and several have denied the allegations or moved to dismiss.
Litigation Funders Are the Newest Targets
One of the more striking shifts is that insurers are now naming litigation finance companies as RICO defendants, alleging that the funders are active participants in fraud rather than passive lenders.
Union Mutual’s May 2025 suit against Casecash Funding and related entities alleged mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, bribery, and securities fraud, claiming the funders knowingly sustained fraudulent claims by financing them for a cut of settlements.7ICLG. Vermont Insurer Gunning for Personal Injury Firms In June 2026, New York Marine & General Insurance Company filed a federal suit in Manhattan against Case Cash Funding and its principal, Gregory Elefterakis, a suspended attorney. The insurer alleged that Case Cash bundled claimant receivables and sold them to investors while explicitly naming insurers as the “payment source.” One October 2022 instrument allegedly carried an outstanding receivable balance of $84.6 million across more than 16,800 advances. The complaint said Case Cash controlled litigation outcomes by blocking settlements, in one instance blocking a $750,000 settlement on which it had advanced $76,500 and then asserting a lien of more than $1.4 million. It also cited a $25,000 advance that purportedly required repayment of more than $67,500.15Insurance Business Magazine. New York Marine Sues Case Cash, Alleges Funder Targeted Insurers
No court has ruled on the merits of these funder allegations.
Courts Are Pushing Back on Some Claims
Even as insurers file, judges are enforcing RICO’s demanding requirements. On February 18, 2026, the Eastern District of New York dismissed with prejudice the RICO claims in Roosevelt Road Re, Ltd. v. William Schwitzer & Associates, P.C. The court held that Roosevelt Road, a reinsurer, was “multiple steps” removed from the alleged fraud and lacked standing. The plaintiffs had tried to recast themselves as a “primary insurer” to work around an earlier decision in a related case, Roosevelt Road Re v. Subin, where the same standing argument had been rejected. Collateral estoppel barred relitigation.16Ruskin Moscou Faltischek. Federal Court Dismisses Civil RICO Lawsuit With Prejudice
In a related case, Roosevelt Road Re v. John Haggar, M.D., the court in March 2026 found that the plaintiffs had adequately alleged Article III standing but identified “fundamental deficiencies” in the RICO claims themselves, including a failure to allege proximate causation and a failure to describe a viable enterprise.17GovInfo. Roosevelt Road Re, Ltd. v. John Haggar, M.D. A separate GEICO case against Hollis Medical Care in the Eastern District of New York also saw its RICO claims dismissed, with the court finding that GEICO “did not allege and cannot prove the existence of a racketeering ‘enterprise.'”18Schlawpc.com. Dismissal of No-Fault Insurance Racketeering Case Brought by Insurance Company
The takeaway from these rulings: standing, enterprise, and proximate cause remain hard elements to plead, and courts are willing to throw out cases that miss them.
Louisiana Staged-Crash Convictions
The biggest criminal development came from New Orleans. On March 20, 2026, a federal jury convicted personal injury attorneys Jason Giles and Vanessa Motta for orchestrating a years-long scheme to stage crashes with 18-wheelers and file fraudulent insurance suits.19WDSU. New Orleans Staged Wrecks Trial Live Updates Prosecutors said the scheme ran from roughly 2015 to 2020 and involved paying drivers and passengers to deliberately collide with commercial trucks, often in New Orleans East and Gentilly. Authorities documented more than 200 staged accidents resulting in over $50 million in payouts, and said the fraud helped drive Louisiana auto insurance premiums up.20Fox 8 Live. How Staged 18-Wheeler Crashes Cost Louisiana Truckers Millions and Drove Up Insurance Rates
Giles was convicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering counts. Motta was convicted on conspiracy, obstruction, and witness tampering counts. Both were jailed immediately after the verdict; Judge Wendy Vitter denied release, citing the witness-tampering convictions and the overlap of witnesses with an upcoming trial. Analysts estimated guideline ranges of roughly 15 to 20 years, with sentencing scheduled for July 2026.21NICB. Jason Giles Files Appeal, Seeks Acquittal and New Trial After Federal Fraud
Giles has filed for acquittal and a new trial, arguing insufficient evidence and “spillover prejudice” from testimony that referenced the murder of government witness Cornelius Garrison, testimony the judge had previously ruled inadmissible.21NICB. Jason Giles Files Appeal, Seeks Acquittal and New Trial After Federal Fraud
A Defendant Turning RICO on Plaintiffs’ Firms
Plastic pipe manufacturer JM Eagle (formally J-M Manufacturing Company) has taken the unusual step of suing plaintiffs’ firms under RICO, alleging they fabricated asbestos-related testimony to extract settlements. On January 28, 2026, JM Eagle filed a complaint in the Southern District of Illinois (No. 3:26-cv-00094) against the Gori Law Firm, its founding partner Beth Gori-Gregory, and several of the firm’s attorneys. The suit alleges the firm ran a “bounty system” offering deposition attorneys up to 2 percent of total settlement proceeds to coach clients into false testimony about exposure to JM Eagle products.22Reuters. JM Eagle Ramps Up Law Firm RICO Cases23GovInfo. J-M Manufacturing Company v. The Gori Law Firm Complaint
The Gori Law Firm called the allegations “ridiculous claims” and “scare tactics.” In late April 2026, the firm moved to dismiss, arguing the suit should be thrown out under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine and that JM Eagle’s complaint was “littered with conclusory allegations.” JM Eagle responded in May 2026. U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn had not yet ruled as of the most recent filings.24Legal Newsline. Filing Lawsuits Doesn’t Immunize Gori vs. Asbestos Fraud Claims, New Filing
JM Eagle had previously filed similar RICO claims against two other firms. Its 2024 suit against Alton, Illinois-based Simmons Hanly Conroy was dismissed by a federal judge in Chicago in March 2025, though JM Eagle has since revived that litigation with an amended complaint. A parallel case against Sokolove Law is also pending, with both firms denying the allegations and seeking dismissal.22Reuters. JM Eagle Ramps Up Law Firm RICO Cases