NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A federal jury found prominent injury attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles guilty Friday on multiple charges in an alleged staged wreck scheme, and both were later remanded to federal custody as they await sentencing.
Federal prosecutors said the case centered on a scheme in which so-called slammers intentionally crashed into 18-wheelers, allowing participants to file lawsuits and seek insurance payouts. Prosecutors argued Motta and Giles helped profit from those wrecks through their law practices.
U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter read the verdict after jurors deliberated for over five hours Friday.
Giles was found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Motta was found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, obstruction of justice and witness…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.