Racketeering suit faces Hartford over Sandy

New York • A couple claiming damage from Hurricane Sandy has filed court papers accusing a Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. unit, an engineering firm and a law firm for the insurer of engaging in racketeering by scheming to use fraudulent reports to deny claims.

Homeowners Stephen and Sarise Dweck alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court that Hartford Insurance Co. of the Midwest denied most of their claim based on a version of a report which had been altered to remove a description of widespread flood damage.

HiRise Engineering altered the report, and Nielsen Carter & Treas, a law firm that represents flood insurance providers, either directed or participated in the scheme, while Hartford "knew or should have known" about the fraud and "used the falsified report as an excuse" to deny benefits, the Dwecks alleged in the new complaint in their November lawsuit. Others who participated in the claims process are also named as defendants