In People v. Taylor (Ct. App. 2/11/2010), the defendants---personal injury attorneys---were alleged to have participated in a scheme to defraud no-fault insurance carriers by "having illegally solicited automobile accident victims exaggerate their injuries, receive excessive medical treatment, and file inflated claims." Among other crimes, they were charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing 1º. The false instruments in question were the attorneys' retainer statements that they filed with the Office of Court Administration. The Appellate Division had reversed because there was no evidence that OCA had relied, to its detriment, on the filings.
The Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division and reinstated the convictions. The plain terms of the statute do not require that the agency receiving the false instruments be "misled to its detriment." "'Intent to defraud' refers only to a defendant's state of mind in acting with a conscious aim and objective to defraud." (LC)
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