Former Hollywood Stuntwoman Charged with Using Her Professional Skills for Elaborate Fraud Scheme
A former stuntwoman used her professional skills to fake a number of car crashes and file insurance claims, according to an indictment unsealed last month by the Department of Justice.
Vanessa Motta, a former stuntwoman who is now a personal injury lawyer working in New Orleans, Louisiana, her disbarred attorney fiance, Sean Alfortish, and several professional drivers allegedly “staged automobile collisions in the New Orleans metropolitan area and submitted fraudulent insurance claims based on the staged collisions,” per the indictment.
The attorneys involved in the scheme then filed fraudulent lawsuits in both state and federal courts on the basis of those apparent accidents.
Motta and another lawyer, Jason Giles, would represent the plaintiffs in those cases.
“The members of this conspiracy also obstructed justice and made material misrepresentations in court cases to prevent detection of their scheme by law enforcement and members of the judiciary,” the indictment added.
New Orleans stuntwoman-turned-lawyer accused of staging crashes to defraud the government https://t.co/FUxhTmhge1 pic.twitter.com/Ndx42PRCYu
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) January 7, 2025
Beyond the allegedly staged collisions, one of the “slammers” who crashed the cars into semitrucks named Ryan Harris has been accused of killing Cornelius Garrison, his former partner in the scam.
Garrison had worked for several years with Motta, Alfortish, and Giles before he started cooperating with federal investigators, but he was fatally shot in September 2020, according to a Monday report from Nola.com.
Motta dabbed her eyes with apparent emotion as she was arraigned and ultimately pleaded not guilty, the outlet said.
She was released by United States Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby on a $25,000 unsecured bond, while Giles was released on a $100,000 bond.
“If these accidents were in fact staged, my client was also a victim and taken advantage by others,” Sean Toomey, a lawyer for Motta, previously told Nola.com.
Alfortish, however, remains in prison pending trial, since prosecutors believe he sought to silence Garrison by offering to pay him or to move him to the Bahamas.
Harris is nevertheless the only conspirator who has been charged over the death of Garrison.
Motta has previously worked as a stunt double for actresses like Vanessa Fertilo in “NCIS New Orleans,” Jodi Balfour in “Quarry,” Natalie Martinez in “Under the Dome,” Daniella Alonso in “Revolution,” and Shay Mitchell in “Pretty Little Liars,” according to her profile on IMDb.
She and Giles had their licenses temporarily suspended last month by the Louisiana Supreme Court, per Nola.com.
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