Center City lawyer accused of 25-year fraud scheme

A Center City lawyer is accused of running an insurance fraud ring that pulled in more than $2.5 million over the last 25 years.

H. Allen Litt, 58, of Bryn Mawr, who has a law office at 1515 Market Street, and 10 others are charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy, theft by deception and related charges in the scheme that District Attorney Lynne Abraham said had been in operation since 1981.

Abraham compared Litt to the character "Fagin" in Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist, who enlisted young thieves to steal for him.

"Fagin is the master thief who recruited pickpockets," Abraham said, adding that Litt enlisted "runners" who would survey and photograph sidewalks that had large breaks or cracks in front of busiensses and homes and then find people to report fake injuries.

She said Litt would pay fees ranging from a couple of hundred to a thousand dollars to find the sites and people to stage the fake accidents.

She said five more people face charges in the scam and that about 10 physicians were under investigation.