Sisters Blew Whistle on Katrina Claims

Sisters Blew Whistle on Katrina Claims: "Richard 'Dickie' Scruggs, a prominent lawyer of tobacco litigation fame, created a stir by announcing in March that two 'insiders' were helping him build cases against insurers for denying claims for Hurricane Katrina losses. Their identities remained a mystery until the day in early June when Cori and Kerri Rigsby -- employees of a company that contracted with State Farm -- told a supervisor they were cooperating with Scruggs.

That startling admission -- and their subsequent resignations -- ended a risky charade. The Rigsbys say they spent months collecting reams of internal State Farm reports, memos, e-mails and claims records before they gave them to Scruggs and state and federal authorities.

The sisters, who managed teams of State Farm adjusters, say the documents show that the insurer defrauded policyholders by manipulating engineers' reports so that claims could be denied."

Emphasis Mine

(Via Salon.)