Sunny Hostin's husband, a surgeon, is facing a years-long legal battle in a fraud case.

Sunny Hostin's husband, along with 200 co-defendants, could face years in court for insurance fraud in a $459 million New York lawsuit, according to legal experts.

An orthopedic surgeon named Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Hostin is among the dozens of doctors and medical personnel named in a federal lawsuit filed last month by American Transit Insurance Co., which accuses Hostin of receiving kickbacks by performing surgery and fraudulently billing the company.

Both of Hostin's patients who were involved in "low-impact" collisions in January 2023, despite only sustaining "minimal damage" and experiencing "no more than soft-tissue injuries," underwent arthroscopic surgery, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, in the Eastern District of New York, which legal experts told Planet Chronicle Digital is intended to discourage unethical behavior. However, this strategy also carries the risk of lengthy and complicated court proceedings, as well as significant financial penalties for defendants such as Hostin.

Treble damages, which are triple the amount of actual damages, can be won by plaintiffs under RICO laws, enacted in the 1970s to combat organized crime.

The compensatory damages in the American Transit case are $153 million, which is three times less than the estimated cost of the project, which is $459 million or more.

Intimidation factor, chilling effect

An associate law professor at the John Marshall Law School who specializes in criminal law and RICO cases, Michael Mears, stated that these types of lawsuits are often pursued with a specific strategy in mind.

"Mears explained to Planet Chronicle Digital that the RICO statute is not just about recovering damages, but also about changing behaviors, attitudes, and the way business is conducted."

Hostin's RICO civil lawsuit alleges that doctors and ambulatory services habitually overcharged patients to an extraordinary degree.

In the New York case, doctors who do not want to be labeled as criminals face intimidation from the accusations alone in a civil RICO statute, which can be a powerful tool to stop objectionable practices.

The American Transit lawsuit will result in a lot of courtroom activity for the defendants, including Hostin.

According to legal experts, civil RICO cases can take years to resolve in court.

Insurance companies frequently accuse groups of people of fraud in civil RICO cases, according to Jeffrey Grell, an attorney specializing in RICO litigation, as stated in an interview with Planet Chronicle Digital.

The insurance provider alleges that Hostin and other medical practitioners in the American Transit lawsuit have been abusing New York's no-fault law to inflate or bill for unnecessary medical treatments, with the intention of profiting from kickbacks.

No-fault laws mandate that companies, such as American Transit, provide coverage for health care expenses incurred by insured passengers due to injuries. However, the low standard of proof required under no-fault laws makes them susceptible to manipulation by medical professionals.

According to American Transit, Hostin and other defendants exploited New York's no-fault laws to make fraudulent claims worth "hundreds of millions" of dollars from 2009 to December 2024.

Complex cases, lengthy timelines

The legal proceedings in civil RICO cases are typically long and demanding for all parties involved.

The lawsuit filed by American Transit against Hostin and other defendants is one of the largest RICO civil cases in New York, with 698 pages, which may result in a lengthy resolution process.

Grell stated that courts will examine the specific allegations against each defendant to determine all the components of a RICO claim, which are intricate.

The case may take more than a year to resolve due to the defendants' attempts to dismiss it before discovery begins. Defendants may file numerous related motions to have their motion to dismiss granted, prolonging the process.

The RICO case discovery process, which can be lengthy and complex, begins after the motions to dismiss are resolved. Each person named in the suit and the counsel for each defendant will attempt to make the case that their client individually does not satisfy the elements of the RICO case.

""As in any other civil lawsuit, the RICO statute enables individuals to conduct depositions, gather documents, and discover financial records," Mears stated regarding the time frame for RICO cases."

The process of discovering information within an organization, such as a doctor's office or hospital, allows plaintiffs to request discovery and document collection from each individual named.

That can result in the case dragging on for even longer.

"The discovery process in RICO cases can be very intimidating, as Mears explained, "It's a long game.""

As a co-host on "The View," Sunny Hostin has discussed her husband's career as a doctor.

In a recent discussion about health insurance, Hostin mentioned his work following the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.

"Doctors, like my husband, who is an orthopedic surgeon, suffer due to big corporations as they often have to sue health insurance companies to get paid for the work they have been trained to do, even when they operate on patients without insurance."

The Daily Mail reported that Hostin's lawyers previously denied all allegations against him and characterized the lawsuit as a "blanket, scattershot, meritless lawsuit by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier."

Planet Chronicle Digital did not receive a response from them regarding the allegations or any expected timeline in the RICO proceedings.