Firm Linked to Mayor Adams' Chief Adviser Connected to Illegal Insurance Fraud Scheme
A no-fault operation, partially financed by former chief of staff to the mayor, Frank Carone, has attracted the attention of federal prosecutors.
TroibNews 
NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing a complicated insurance operation connected to Mayor Eric Adams' former chief of staff, Frank Carone.
In October, Manhattan federal prosecutors indicted three individuals on charges of criminal conspiracy for allegedly running an extensive $10 million fraud scheme related to no-fault auto insurance, which is intended to cover medical expenses from car accidents.
Approximately two months prior to the public revelation of the case, these three individuals were added as defendants in an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by auto insurance giant GEICO, which claims a similar pattern of insurance fraud.
Also added as a defendant was Financial Vision Capital Group II, a limited liability company established by Carone and attorney Howard Fensterman in 2018, when they were partners at the prominent Brooklyn law firm Abrams Fensterman.
GEICO’s amended complaint, filed in August in Brooklyn federal court, explicitly accuses Financial Vision of "knowingly aiding and abetting the fraudulent scheme" orchestrated by the indicted trio and several others, including two individuals who previously pleaded guilty to insurance fraud.
A review of hundreds of pages of court records indicates a notable overlap between the allegations in the indictment and the operations funded by Financial Vision, according to PMG.
“From an investigative standpoint, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” asserted veteran insurance fraud investigator Frank Sztuk.
Currently, neither Financial Vision Capital Group II nor Carone, Fensterman, and Abrams Fensterman have faced criminal charges.
Carone and his spokesperson have consistently stated that he had no operational involvement in the alleged scheme, asserting that his role was limited to advancing funds to medical providers in exchange for the right to collect their no-fault insurance payouts, plus interest. In a formal response to GEICO’s amended complaint, Abrams Fensterman, representing Financial Vision, denied any knowledge of "fraudulent services" or improper billing.
“Any such advances were lawful and proper and were done based upon representations that the medical providers performing such services and the services they performed were in all respects legitimate and proper,” the attorneys for Abrams Fensterman stated in November.
Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for Fensterman and Abrams Fensterman, characterized Financial Vision as a victim and noted that the law firm is now "attempting to ensure justice is done on their behalf."
“On behalf of Financial Vision II, Abrams Fensterman as early as 2022 reported these matters to law enforcement and in 2022 brought a publicly-filed lawsuit because they were among the victims of the wrongdoers,” Sheinkopf wrote in a statement to PMG.
Stu Loeser, a spokesperson for Carone, declined to provide a comment.
Carone, a well-connected attorney with significant ties to Brooklyn politics, served as Mayor Eric Adams’ chief of staff during his first year in office and remains a close friend and adviser. After departing City Hall in late 2022, Carone established his own consulting firm and returned to Abrams Fensterman in an "of counsel" capacity.
The recent indictment, filed in the Southern District of New York, names Kenan Tariverdi, Nazim Tariverdi, and Dilshod Islamov, along with “others known and unknown,” as the operators of the criminal scheme defrauding no-fault insurance. All three have pleaded not guilty.
Under state law, individuals injured in a car accident can access up to $50,000 in insurance coverage for their medical expenses, regardless of fault in the incident. Victims can file claims directly with insurers or authorize healthcare providers to bill insurers directly for no-fault insurance payments.
The indictment outlines allegations that Islamov and the Tariverdi brothers billed no-fault insurers for over $10 million in costly medical procedures, some of which were never performed, by using the names and details of licensed healthcare providers.
Prosecutors claim that instead of the money going to the healthcare providers, it was funneled to unnamed "funding companies or law firms authorized to collect insurance payments." The indictment alleges that these unnamed entities transferred the funds into bank accounts held in the names of the providers but actually controlled by the indicted trio and their unnamed co-conspirators.
Allegations indicate that the trio and their accomplices utilized stacks of blank checks signed by the providers to launder the funds through a network of shell companies.
GEICO’s amended complaint further asserts that the Tariverdi brothers and Islamov played critical managerial roles in the scheme, with Financial Vision also bearing responsibility for providing funding and managing billing logistics in collaboration with an unnamed law firm, as indicated by internal emails referenced in the complaint.
The insurer claims the healthcare providers were merely "interchangeable ‘cogs’ in the fraud wheel."
Beyond the recent indictment, Carone's business activities with Financial Vision continue to raise concerns.
Financial Vision Capital Group II is currently embroiled in a civil fraud lawsuit against businessman Daniel Kandhorov, who is also a close associate of Adams and allegedly facilitated connections between the company and no-fault medical providers, a complaint filed in November 2022 states. Financial Vision asserts that it advanced more than $12 million to providers referred by Kandhorov, who purportedly received a 5 percent cut based on his "misrepresentations" regarding the legitimacy of their services.
Kandhorov is said to have worked alongside restaurateur Zhan “Johnny” Petrosyants, another close associate of the mayor, characterized in Financial Vision's lawsuit as “a felon experienced in the art of insurance fraud.” Emails included in the lawsuit reveal discussions between Petrosyants and Carone regarding the investment operation and the billing practices of specific no-fault providers.
Petrosyants pleaded guilty in 2014 to federal conspiracy charges linked to a no-fault insurance operation.
Federal authorities are also investigating Carone’s business transactions with a Brooklyn priest in an apparent separate inquiry. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn has subpoenaed records regarding business dealings between Carone and Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, as reported by NBC New York in September.
Through a limited liability corporation, Gigantiello is an investor in Financial Vision Group IV, another entity created by Carone and Fensterman, along with Fensterman's son, Jordan, to provide funding to no-fault medical providers.
The specifics of the Brooklyn prosecutors' inquiry remain unclear.
Frederick R Cook for TROIB News
In October, Manhattan federal prosecutors indicted three individuals on charges of criminal conspiracy for allegedly running an extensive $10 million fraud scheme related to no-fault auto insurance, which is intended to cover medical expenses from car accidents.
Approximately two months prior to the public revelation of the case, these three individuals were added as defendants in an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by auto insurance giant GEICO, which claims a similar pattern of insurance fraud.
Also added as a defendant was Financial Vision Capital Group II, a limited liability company established by Carone and attorney Howard Fensterman in 2018, when they were partners at the prominent Brooklyn law firm Abrams Fensterman.
GEICO’s amended complaint, filed in August in Brooklyn federal court, explicitly accuses Financial Vision of "knowingly aiding and abetting the fraudulent scheme" orchestrated by the indicted trio and several others, including two individuals who previously pleaded guilty to insurance fraud.
A review of hundreds of pages of court records indicates a notable overlap between the allegations in the indictment and the operations funded by Financial Vision, according to PMG.
“From an investigative standpoint, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” asserted veteran insurance fraud investigator Frank Sztuk.
Currently, neither Financial Vision Capital Group II nor Carone, Fensterman, and Abrams Fensterman have faced criminal charges.
Carone and his spokesperson have consistently stated that he had no operational involvement in the alleged scheme, asserting that his role was limited to advancing funds to medical providers in exchange for the right to collect their no-fault insurance payouts, plus interest. In a formal response to GEICO’s amended complaint, Abrams Fensterman, representing Financial Vision, denied any knowledge of "fraudulent services" or improper billing.
“Any such advances were lawful and proper and were done based upon representations that the medical providers performing such services and the services they performed were in all respects legitimate and proper,” the attorneys for Abrams Fensterman stated in November.
Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for Fensterman and Abrams Fensterman, characterized Financial Vision as a victim and noted that the law firm is now "attempting to ensure justice is done on their behalf."
“On behalf of Financial Vision II, Abrams Fensterman as early as 2022 reported these matters to law enforcement and in 2022 brought a publicly-filed lawsuit because they were among the victims of the wrongdoers,” Sheinkopf wrote in a statement to PMG.
Stu Loeser, a spokesperson for Carone, declined to provide a comment.
Carone, a well-connected attorney with significant ties to Brooklyn politics, served as Mayor Eric Adams’ chief of staff during his first year in office and remains a close friend and adviser. After departing City Hall in late 2022, Carone established his own consulting firm and returned to Abrams Fensterman in an "of counsel" capacity.
The recent indictment, filed in the Southern District of New York, names Kenan Tariverdi, Nazim Tariverdi, and Dilshod Islamov, along with “others known and unknown,” as the operators of the criminal scheme defrauding no-fault insurance. All three have pleaded not guilty.
Under state law, individuals injured in a car accident can access up to $50,000 in insurance coverage for their medical expenses, regardless of fault in the incident. Victims can file claims directly with insurers or authorize healthcare providers to bill insurers directly for no-fault insurance payments.
The indictment outlines allegations that Islamov and the Tariverdi brothers billed no-fault insurers for over $10 million in costly medical procedures, some of which were never performed, by using the names and details of licensed healthcare providers.
Prosecutors claim that instead of the money going to the healthcare providers, it was funneled to unnamed "funding companies or law firms authorized to collect insurance payments." The indictment alleges that these unnamed entities transferred the funds into bank accounts held in the names of the providers but actually controlled by the indicted trio and their unnamed co-conspirators.
Allegations indicate that the trio and their accomplices utilized stacks of blank checks signed by the providers to launder the funds through a network of shell companies.
GEICO’s amended complaint further asserts that the Tariverdi brothers and Islamov played critical managerial roles in the scheme, with Financial Vision also bearing responsibility for providing funding and managing billing logistics in collaboration with an unnamed law firm, as indicated by internal emails referenced in the complaint.
The insurer claims the healthcare providers were merely "interchangeable ‘cogs’ in the fraud wheel."
Beyond the recent indictment, Carone's business activities with Financial Vision continue to raise concerns.
Financial Vision Capital Group II is currently embroiled in a civil fraud lawsuit against businessman Daniel Kandhorov, who is also a close associate of Adams and allegedly facilitated connections between the company and no-fault medical providers, a complaint filed in November 2022 states. Financial Vision asserts that it advanced more than $12 million to providers referred by Kandhorov, who purportedly received a 5 percent cut based on his "misrepresentations" regarding the legitimacy of their services.
Kandhorov is said to have worked alongside restaurateur Zhan “Johnny” Petrosyants, another close associate of the mayor, characterized in Financial Vision's lawsuit as “a felon experienced in the art of insurance fraud.” Emails included in the lawsuit reveal discussions between Petrosyants and Carone regarding the investment operation and the billing practices of specific no-fault providers.
Petrosyants pleaded guilty in 2014 to federal conspiracy charges linked to a no-fault insurance operation.
Federal authorities are also investigating Carone’s business transactions with a Brooklyn priest in an apparent separate inquiry. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn has subpoenaed records regarding business dealings between Carone and Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, as reported by NBC New York in September.
Through a limited liability corporation, Gigantiello is an investor in Financial Vision Group IV, another entity created by Carone and Fensterman, along with Fensterman's son, Jordan, to provide funding to no-fault medical providers.
The specifics of the Brooklyn prosecutors' inquiry remain unclear.
Frederick R Cook for TROIB News
