Attorney Pleads Guilty in Huge Insurance Fraud
A San Fernando Valley attorney on Thursday pleaded guilty in an insurance fraud case that authorities say may become one of the largest criminal prosecutions of lawyers in U.S. history.
Richard A. Banks, 42, of Tarzana entered his plea in U. S. District Court in San Diego, becoming the third attorney and fifth person convicted in a multimillion-dollar insurance scheme involving a group of Los Angeles-area lawyers that prosecutors have called the “Alliance.”
Banks’ plea to a single mail fraud charge was part of an agreement in which Banks agreed to aid federal prosecutors and postal inspectors. He also agreed to surrender his license to practice law. Neither Banks nor his attorney would comment.
Banks could receive up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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