Insurance repeatedly revoked
Limo’s policy canceled six times in nine months prior to deadly crash, state documents show
The 2001 Ford Excursion involved in the deadly Oct. 6 limousine crash in Schoharie County that killed 20 people repeatedly had its state registration revoked in the months leading up to the horrific tragedy.
State Department of Motor Vehicles documents obtained by the Times Union show that the insurer of the stretch Excursion, Global Liberty Insurance of New York, cancelled the insurance policy on the limo six times between January and September.
The DMV automatically revokes the registration on limos and other “for hire” vehicles when liability insurance is dropped. The limo company must surrender the plates from the vehicle if the owner fails to obtain new coverage.
DMV records show that the Excursion’s owner, Prestige Limousine of Wilton, was able to get its policy reinstated each time by Global Liberty Insurance of New York. The
last reinstatement was made on Oct. 5 — the day before the limo hurtled into the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store in Schoharie and plunged into a ditch. All 18 people aboard and two bystanders were killed.
Officials at Global Liberty, which is based in Melville on Long Island, aren’t talking. The company’s CEO, Scott Wollney, did not return calls seeking comment. Wollney is also CEO of Atlas Financial Holdings, the insurer’s parent company.
It’s unclear why the Excursion’s liability insurance was repeatedly canceled. Insurance policies on commercial limos are expensive and can cost $5,000 to $10,000 a year. In the days leading up to the crash, the Excursion had been put up for sale on Craigslist with a $9,000 price tag.
Prestige Limousine is owned by Shahed Hussain, a Capital Region gas station and motel operator who has a history of shady business deals. Hussain worked as an undercover informant for the FBI after being caught trying to get fake IDS through the DMV.
Hussain is believed to be in his native Pakistan. His son Nauman Hussain, who also goes by Arslan, was operating the company in
his absence. Arslan and his brother Haris grew up in Loudonville before the family bought a motel in Wilton in 2006. Their mother died in 2013. It’s unclear if Shahed Hussain intends to return to the United States, although in the past he has regularly traveled to Pakistan, Dubai and London on business.
Nauman Hussain was charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the crash. State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board have not yet completed their investigations of the disaster.
Although the criminal case is in the early stages, several of the families of the victims have started to bring civil lawsuits against Prestige and the Hussains, who are being represented in civil matters by attorneys from the firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker.
Brian Del Gatto, a senior lawyer with Wilson Elser who is in charge of the case, declined comment Friday.
DMV officials also won’t explain what was happening with the limo’s insurance and registration in the months leading up to the crash, and if its changes in status had anything to do with spot inspections that the state Department of Transportation performed on the Excursion in March and September.
In both cases, DOT inspectors ordered the limo off the road, citing major safety violations involving the brakes and the emergency exits. A third inspection was done by State Police in August after a traffic stop.
“In light of the ongoing criminal investigation
... it would be irresponsible to comment on any information that could compromise the integrity of that investigation,” DMV spokeswoman Lisa Koumjian said.
Like school buses, stretch limos are required to be inspected every six months by the state DOT, and the companies that operate them are required to obtain a special certification of “operating authority” from the DOT. The certification includes criminal background checks and financial assessments.
Prestige never applied for operating authority from DOT, and was therefore not supposed to be driving passengers in the Excursion.
Although the civil lawsuits being filed on behalf of the victims’ families will likely seek compensation from Global Liberty, other insurance companies could be targeted as well, said Troy attorney E. Stewart Jones Jr., who is representing some of the families.
“We hope to tag every insurance company that
had anything to do with any component of that vehicle,” Jones said. “Any insurer with any liability at all will be looked to for payment.”