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 handcuffed and 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…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.