Why Did Insurer Ignore Evidence of Arson?

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/arson-profit-proved-circumstantial-evidence-barry-zalma-esq-cfe and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4100 posts.

This criminal case stems from a 2015 fire at Adcor Industries for which the owner, Demetrios Stavrakis, collected a $15 million insurance payout. Suspicions arose when surveillance video showed Stavrakis tampering with the security system at the front entrance of the building on the evening of the fire. A seven-week jury trial ended in convictions on all counts. 

It was undisputed that the Adcor fire was the product of arson. Central to the government’s case against Stavrakis was the surveillance video – played for the jury – that showed him tampering with the security system at Adcor’s front door on the evening before the fire. A video camera captured him putting tape on the latch of the door before setting the security alarm, disabling a locking mechanism that required entrants to swipe an ID card. S

Arsonists seldom confess nor are they dumb enough to set a fire on camera. Therefore, most arson trials are based upon circumstantial evidence.

In sum, the jury had before it a compelling case – circumstantial, but compelling – from which it could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Stavrakis knowingly participated in the arson. The proper focus is “the totality of the evidence,” which in this case was sufficient to support a guilty verdict.

Argument

For the reasons carefully detailed by the district court, “substantial evidence” in this case supported a reasonable inference of guilt. Viewed in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence is not in equipoise [A situation in which things are perfectly balanced]. 

ZALMA OPINION

With such damning evidence it is amazing that Travelers paid Stavrakis $15 million without, at least, reviewing the available evidence, without collecting the video that the government collected, and without taking the examination under oath of Stavrakis to inquire about the motives he had for the fire. 

© 2022 – Barry Zalma

Subscribe to “Zalma on Insurance” at https://zalmaoninsurance.locals.com/subscribe and “Excellence in Claims Handling” at https://barryzalma.substack.com/welcome.

You can contact Mr. Zalma at https://www.zalma.com, https://www.claimschool.com, [email protected] and [email protected] . Mr. Zalma is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE Legend Award.

You may find interesting the podcast “Zalma On Insurance” at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma; you can follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at; you should see Barry Zalma’s videos on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg/featured; or videos on https://rumble.com/zalma. Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims–library/ The last two issues of ZIFL are available at https://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/