June 11 (Reuters) - Ride-hailing company Uber ( UBER ) filed a

lawsuit against a Miami law firm and a Miami medical center

accusing them of orchestrating a medical and insurance scam that

involved staged car collisions.

Uber ( UBER ), in the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in federal

court in Miami, accuses personal injury firm Law Group of South

Florida and firm attorney Andy Loynaz of participating in a

scheme to pay drivers to intentionally collide with other cars

and then claim they were using the Uber ( UBER ) app while driving.

Auto mechanics and healthcare providers at River Medical

Center in Miami and other clinics falsely said the crashes

caused severe injuries and required medical treatments,

according to the lawsuit. Those false statements formed the

basis of bogus lawsuits against Uber ( UBER ) and its insurer, according

to the lawsuit.

Loynaz, described on the law firm's website as a firm

co-founder, declined to comment on Wednesday.

A person who answered the phone at River Medical Center

declined to comment and declined to make anyone else available.

The lawsuit, which claims that four fraudulent lawsuits were

filed in Florida court stemming from the scheme, didn't specify

how much they have cost Uber ( UBER ). The company's lawsuit said Uber ( UBER )

has spent several million dollars in defense costs and

settlements.

Adam Blinick, Uber's ( UBER ) head of state and local public policy

in the U.S. and Canada, in reply to a request for comment on the

lawsuit, said in a statement that Uber ( UBER ) will take action if it

sees something inappropriate on the platform.

The 97-page lawsuit details five allegedly staged crashes,

all of which took place near Hialeah, Florida, in 2023 and

2024.

After each crash, Loynaz submitted insurance claims for the

people involved for the maximum amount allowed under the policy,

$1 million, the lawsuit claims. After four crashes, Loynaz filed

lawsuits that named Uber ( UBER ) and its commercial auto liability

insurance carrier. Some of the lawsuits are still pending in

court, according to the lawsuit.