Sunny Hostin and her husband are fighting insurance fraud claims

Sunny Hostin and her husband, Dr. Emmanuel Hostin, is preparing for a legal battle to fight allegations that he committed insurance fraud, Page Six has learned exclusively.

The View co-host and orthopedic surgeon have hired legal experts Mark Geragos and Daniel Thwaites after Emmanuel was named in one of the largest federal RICO cases ever filed in New York.

On Sunday, Geragos threatened $5 million in legal action against American Transit Insurance Company, which named Emmanuel and his medical practice in its lawsuit.

In a letter seen by Page Six, Geragos called the lawsuit “completely baseless and without any factual basis” and threatened a countersuit worth millions of dollars if the plaintiffs do not withdraw their “false and defamatory allegations.”

The letter also accuses the insurance organization and its lawyers of “engaging in a public smear campaign in the press to impeach Dr. “To harass and defame Hostin, his wife and their children by attempting to weaponize his wife’s celebrity.”

“Their unscrupulous tactics are well known in the industry and Dr. Hostin and his family will not be intimidated,” the letter said.

Emmanuel is one of 200 people named in the lawsuit, filed on Dec. 17, 2024, and obtained by Page Six last week. The lawsuit alleges that the doctor “knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other health care services, including arthroscopic surgeries.”

In addition, he is accused of billing American Transit “in exchange for kickbacks and/or other compensation that were disguised as dividends or other cash distributions,” the lawsuit says.

The Daily Mail was the first to report on the lawsuit, in which American Transit is seeking at least $450 million.

“Non-culpable fraud is a big problem in New York. “American Transit has filed a lawsuit as part of its legal responsibility to combat such fraud,” an attorney for the company told the outlet.

But Thwaites hit back, describing the lawsuit as a “blanket, isolated, baseless lawsuit from a near-bankrupt insurance carrier,” according to the newspaper.

“This is intended to intimidate and harass doctors into not covering the costs of caring for American Transit policyholders and their passengers,” Thwaites reportedly said.

Geragos arrived last week to represent Emmanuel and his family, including his wife Sunny and their children Gabriel and Paloma.

Geragos claims in his letter that “a damning 83-page report from the New York State Department of Financial Services… laid out dozens of potential financial improprieties and accounting problems at American Transit.”

He also points to a lawsuit filed by Uber Technologies in 2024 that claims: “American Transit has a ‘pattern and practice of failing to adhere to appropriate claims processing practices and of failing to adequately resolve claims and actions on behalf of its insureds.’ “

“It is clear that American Transit’s long-standing bankruptcy is the cause of the frivolous lawsuit against Dr. Hostin and the accompanying media smear campaign,” he wrote.

Gerago’s letter served as “official notice that Dr. Hostin, Ms. Hostin and their children intend to seek $5 million in damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress for the damages they have suffered and continue to suffer.” “This is the result of the defamation allegations set forth above and the corresponding smear campaign,” he wrote.

On Sunday, an attorney for American Transit – William Natbony of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – told Page Six: “American Transit brought its action as part of its legal responsibility to combat innocent fraud that is rampant in New York.” The The allegations in the lawsuit speak for themselves. “With respect to any allegations by a defendant of inappropriate conduct by American Transit or its attorneys, those allegations are emphatically rejected as being without merit.”