Less than a week before he was scheduled to appear in court, a New York doctor charged in a US$100 million fraud scheme vanished after he fell off a boat following an alleged accident.
Dr. Marvin Moy allegedly fell overboard during an early-morning collision between his own fishing boat and a larger vessel off the coast of Long Island on Oct. 13, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Another unnamed passenger on Moy’s boat also fell overboard but was rescued from the water.
Moy is one of 13 professionals accused of stealing more than US$100 million ($137,270,000) from insurance companies. The U.S. Attorney’s Office called it “one of the largest no-fault insurance frauds in history.”
The missing doctor is charged with health-care fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy. The U.S. Attorney’s Office claimed Moy is facing 30 years in prison if convicted.
The investigation into Moy’s disappearance is ongoing.
“The incident was reported just after midnight on the morning of Oct. 13 of an alleged collision involving Mr. Moy and one other person with a large vessel,” read a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Members of the Coast Guard reportedly witnessed debris and an oil sheen on the water when they approached the scene.
Moy’s fishing boat, Sure Shot, sank following the collision, the Coast Guard claimed.
Fox News reported passengers onboard several larger vessels nearby were also interviewed by the Coast Guard, though no one witnessed the alleged crash.
“We conducted boat and helicopter searches for over 30 hours covering 4,830 nautical miles, finding only the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon that he was allegedly holding when he was last seen,” the statement continued.
The unnamed passenger reportedly told authorities following his rescue that Moy had been holding the distress beacon before he fell overboard.
Though Moy remains missing, the Coast Guard said they have made “no conclusion regarding death.”
The Coast Guard is currently investigating the exact cause of the Sure Shot‘s sinking.
Moy received federal charges in January. He and the 12 others were accused of exploiting the no-fault insurance contracts of automobile accident victims. (A no-fault insurance claim is designed to make insurance more affordable and occurs when an injured party is compensated by their insurance company, regardless of the cause of personal damage.)
“In carrying out their massive scheme, among other methods, they allegedly bribed 911 operators, hospital employees, and others for confidential motor vehicle accident victim information,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement.
“With this information, they then endangered victims by subjecting them to unnecessary and often painful medical procedures, in order to fraudulently overbill insurance companies,” he continued.
Williams claimed the exploitation of no-fault insurance laws “result in higher costs, and unfairly burden all consumers in the auto insurance market.”
Though the search for Moy has been suspended, the Coast Guard claimed it will stand by for additional information that could assist in the investigation.
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