New Orleans attorneys accused of staging vehicle accidents in fraud scheme

Authorities say eight people and two law firms have been charged in a more than decade-long scheme that allegedly began with staging vehicle crashes in the New Orleans area to submit fraudulent insurance claims. They add one person was killed in connection with the alleged scheme. According to a 10-count indictment unsealed Monday in Louisiana, the scheme included people crashing 22 times into 18-wheeler tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles to submit fraudulent insurance claims and lawsuits. The indictment brings the total number of defendants charged in the country to 63 in a federal probe of staged auto collisions that authorities dubbed “Operation Sideswipe.”