FPCA Auto Division: Eight Arrested in Tampa Area for Automobile Insurance Fraud
Oct 14, 2010
Florida Property and Casualty Association Automobile Division Members:
The following article regarding the arrest of eight people in the Tampa area for automobile insurance fraud was published by WTSP Channel 10 News on October 8, 2010.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Katie Webb (kwebb@cftlaw.com).
10 busted for auto insurance fraud; you’re paying for it
Tampa, Florida — The Tampa Bay area has earned a claim to fame we’d rather not have, ranking first in the state when it comes to staged auto crashes and second in the country behind Brooklyn, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
NICB says the fraudulent crashes are up 250% in the last two years alone.
If you drive a car, it’s costing you.
“It’s costing them approximately $250 to $300 each year to obtain insurance in the state of Florida because of these fraudulent claims,” said NICB Special Agent Robert Deluna.
Ten people were busted Friday as part of “Crash for Cash,” an on-going effort by the Hillsborough County Sherrif’s Office to crack down on the crime.
Eight people were taken into custody Friday morning and detectives are still searching for two others, 23-year-old Juan Carlos of Tampa and 32-year-old Sugeidi Serrano of Lakeland.
All 10 face racketeering charges.
Detectives say this latest investigation started in May when they were tipped off that employees at the Medical Rehab Choice, LLC on West Waters were recruiting people to take part in their scheme.
Undercover detectives were able to infiltrate the alleged organized ring of “patients” and the clinic’s owner Juan Carlos, licensed massage therapists Sugeidi Serrano and Ernie Azucey and receptionist Jacqueline Rosales.
“They offer them anywhere from $750 to $1,000 to participate in these staged crashes, then they go out, they load the vehicle up with five or six people and then they go out and hit the vehicles,” explained Deluna.
The other vehicles involved in the crash are not typically innocent bystanders.
“You probably won’t be involved in that because these individuals are an organization that goes out and recruits these individuals to commit the accidents and then they all go to a specific place,” said Deluna.
In many staged crashes, detectives say the culprits will call law enforcement to the scene so a report can be filed, but because the damages and injuries are so minor, a full fledged investigation is not completed.
But, traffic crash investigators are catching on.
“Our deputies, over the course of time, saw the same pattern, same minimal damage, same locations and they were able to identify that patter and they continued to see these people involved,” said HCSO’s Maj. Donna Lusczynski.
Once they’ve got the report, the suspects then file claims under Florida’s Personal Injury Protection benefit with their insurance companies.
While the participants made up to $1,000 to take part in the scheme, the clinics stand to make much more since the PIP minimum is $10,000.
As you would imagine, it ends up costing all of us.
“All of our insurance is going up and we want them to know we’re not going to tolerate it. We don’t like it, we don’t take it lightly and once we identify them, we’re going to take action,” said Maj. Lusczynski.
This investigation has also unveiled a new scheme where the suspects rent a U-Haul vehicle and purchase the U-Haul insurance policy for $100 which will provide up to $1 million in coverage.
This isn’t the first “Crash for Cash” operation. Back in May, the sheriff’s office arrested 54 people accused of filing fraudulent claims totaling $18 million.
