Ground Zero mosque man sued for ripping off insurance company

Washington, Sept 5 (ANI): One of the financial backers of the proposed Ground Zero mosque has been sued for allegedly swindling nearly 1.8 million dollars from an insurance company.

According to court documents, Hisham Elzanaty, who owns medical companies, allegedly billed State Farm for automobile accident-related tests, which were not needed in the first place, to maximize the insurance payout, the New York Post reports.

Elzanaty was reportedly a "significant investor" in the Ground Zero mosque developer Sharif el-Gamal.

Elzanaty, who was suspected of scheming the fraud since 1998, was also ordered to repay 331 thousand dollars after it came out in an audit that he had been overpaid by Medicaid, the United States health program. (ANI)