Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman
LOS ANGELES — As many as four of every five claims tied to last year’s $4 billion settlement of child sexual abuse cases against Los Angeles County may be fraudulent, the county District Attorney’s Office reported in court documents.
In an application filed on June 10, District Attorney Nathan Hochman urged the Los Angeles Superior Court to stay all payments from last year’s settlement for six months, through Dec. 31. Earlier this year, the county agreed to another request from Hochman’s office for a six-month payment delay while the office undertook a preliminary fraud investigation of the 11,000 claims filed by those who said they were abused as minors while in the custody of county juvenile halls, foster homes or children’s shelters.
Hochman stressed that it’s in the interest of all parties to root out any fraudulent claims so that more resources will be available to help legitimate victims of child abuse.
“I have filed this application with the interests of the real victims in mind,” Hochman said in a prepared statement. “We believe that fraudulent claims may account for as much as 81 percent of those seeking compensation from the settlement fund. Given the structure of the settlement, identifying and excluding ineligible claimants would ensure that those who are rightfully entitled to compensation receive a larger share of the settlement.”
The settlement was negotiated in the wake of the enactment of California Assembly Bill 218, which extended the statute of limitations for filing claims of childhood sexual abuse.
“This intervention is critical to safeguarding the rights of the legitimate child-abuse survivors, including preserving the integrity of the settlement process,” Hochman said. “It will also help ensure that individuals who have allegedly filed fraudulent claims are held accountable for exploiting the horrific abuse and trauma experienced by genuine survivors.”
Jamie Huff, president and CEO of the Civil Justice Association of California, said the settlement may be one of the most blatant instances of lawsuit abuse and tax-dollar theft in the state’s history.
“If the district attorney is correct, these unashamed trial lawyers turned real trauma into a taxpayer-funded cash grab, costing Angelenos billions,” Huff told the Southern California Record. “Real victims deserve justice -- not to have their claims polluted and diluted by billboard lawyers' fraud and greed."
A statement the District Attorney’s Office emailed to the Record indicates a hearing on Hochman’s motion was continued until Thursday of this week.
“... We will aggressively pursue anyone who is fraudulently exploiting this settlement, stealing from true victims and from the hardworking Los Angeles County taxpayers who will bear the cost of these crimes for years to come,” the statement says. “We look forward to working with the court and all counsel involved to protect the integrity of this process.”
The application the District Attorney’s Office submitted to the Superior Court says that among the plaintiff law firms responding to the application, nine opposed it and seven were in agreement with Hochman’s plans.
The district attorney said his office has completed the preliminary phase of the fraud probe, but another six months is needed to conduct the investigation’s intermediate phase, in which the office expects to uncover additional fraudulent claims.
“The investigation remains active and ongoing and encompasses potential misconduct by plaintiffs as well as third parties including … their attorneys, recruiters and medical professionals,” the application states.
If the court rules against the proposed six-month delay, the district attorney’s probe will be impeded, lengthening the time and effort needed to claw back funds that were obtained through fraud, according to the application.
