Todd Hoeffner Claims He Is A Victim of Fraud

Although Todd Hoeffner was indicted in June on charges of bribery and wire fraud, he claims that he was not a perpetrator but a victim. According to yesterday's news story, the government alleges he used kickbacks to persuade two employees of The Hartford insurance company to settle hundreds of his silicosis cases, and indicted all three of them. The 14-count indictment accurately reflected the payments, Hoeffner acknowledges, but not the context in which they were made.

In a 37-page civil court filing known as a "cross-claim," Hoeffner insists that he was the target of an extortion plot in which routine settlements were held hostage by a claims manager and her boyfriend, who were looking for a nest egg to fund a comfortable post-divorce life together.

Adding to the intrigue is the identity of her boyfriend: the head of the company's claims handling division that dealt with silica cases. Hoeffner accuses the two of working together to force him to pay up or risk getting nothing.