Leake Andersson Attorneys Assist FBI and U.S. Attorney in Massive Fraud Case Against Two New Orleans Law Firms

On December 6, 2024, the United States of America filed indictments in USDC Eastern District of Louisiana against several defendants including plaintiff attorneys and several law firms accusing them of staging accidents to defraud commercial motor vehicle companies and their insurers.  A participant in the alleged scheme (Cornelius Garrison) was killed in 2020 shortly after agreeing to cooperate with federal authorities.   

Lou Bonnaffons and Rob Bonnaffons have been assisting the FBI and U.S. Attorney with their investigations since 2018.   

On April 30, 2018, Lou Bonnaffons filed a Reconventional Demand in “Kyonne Walker v. Arch Insurance Company, et al.” (Orleans Parish) against three plaintiffs seeking recovery of attorney’s fees and litigation expenses for having to defend suspected fraud claims, but this was only the beginning.  The plaintiffs were represented by the King Firm, who is named in the December 6, 2024 indictment.  The Walker plaintiffs dismissed their claims “without financial settlement” in February 2020.     

Rob Bonnaffons is believed to be the only civil defense attorney who deposed Cornelius Garrison about the potential fraud scheme prior to Garrison’s death.  Garrison refused to answer any questions during the deposition and was later gunned down.       

Over the past few years, at least 49 individuals have plead guilty to crimes related to the staged accident scheme, but only one attorney (Patrick Keating) had been charged until recently.  The indictments filed on December 6, 2024 expanded the charges to include additional attorneys. More indictments could follow.   

Lou and Rob Bonnaffons emphasize the immense contributions of attorneys Guy Perrier (Perrier Lacoste), Andrea Albert (Galloway Johnson), and Jim Dill (The Dill Firm) who devoted significant time and resources to the federal investigations.  Without their efforts, none of this would have been possible.   We are especially proud to have collaborated with transportation defense attorneys from competing firms on behalf of the Transportation Industry to expose this fraud and pursue justice.  Guy, Andrea, Jim and Lou presented on this topic at the 2021 and 2022 TIDA Seminars.   

New Orleans’ own 4WWL reported the news on Monday, December 9, 2024 and have been providing updates to the public since. Nola.com has also shared information about the indictment. You can read more about the indictments in this Press Release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.