2 Doctors Held in Insurance Scam

Two San Fernando Valley doctors were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of falsely treating a man who staged traffic accidents, then bilked insurance companies out of more than $150,000, a prosecutor said.

Dr. Shahin Ravery, 34, who has offices in Beverly Hills and Encino, and Dr. David Denney, 39, with an office in Chatsworth, are scheduled to be arraigned today in Van Nuys Municipal Court on charges of insurance fraud, conspiring to commit insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit grand theft, Deputy Dist. Atty. Leonard Shaffer said.

Ravery and Denney both treated the alleged ringleader of the insurance scam, Roland Sharki, who has at least four aliases, Shaffer said. With the aid of associates, Sharki would stage or induce traffic collisions, then falsely claim that injuries caused him to lose wages at a construction company, Shaffer said.

Using letters signed by Ravery and Denney, Sharki, who remains at large, bilked insurers out of more than $150,000 in the past 18 months, Shaffer said.

Ravery’s and Denney’s records show that both doctors treated Sharki under many of his aliases during the same period of time, sometimes in the same day, Shaffer said.