Insurance Companies "Bribe" Allegheny County DA, Police With Grants

In yet another example of how Allegheny County government exists only to generate revenue for itself, BuzzFeed revealed that insurance companies like Erie, State Farm, Farmers, and others have co-opted the police and District Attorneys as their enforcement arm. 

In 2018, the Allegheny County District Attorney's office received over $700,000 in grants from an insurance industry-funded group called the Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority. This money pays the salaries of over 100 prosecutors, investigators, and other staff dedicated exclusively to insurance fraud.

In a statement, DA Stephen Zappala said the partnership “not only helps to hold people who abuse the insurance system accountable, but also serves as a deterrent to others contemplating similar behavior.” 

The BuzzFeed report identified 27 cases nationwide in which insurance companies contributed "materially and financially" to investigations that resulted in false accusations against customers. They do this, of course, to deny claims and boost profits.

Representative Tony DeLuca defended this practice of accepting money from insurance companies, perhaps because he does, too. “I am not in the pocket of the insurance industry,” he assured one reporter.

Lisa Middleman, a former public defender and challenger to Zappala, believes this process reeks of corruption. She said in an NPR interview:

“What we have right now is the district attorney’s office being bought by the insurance companies. You wouldn’t want Giant Eagle to be able to buy their own prosecutor to prosecute people for shoplifting from Giant Eagle. I think that what the insurance companies are doing is very similar. They’re buying their own district attorney so that the district attorney is doing their collection work for them.”