Florida officials make 80 arrests, kick off ‘operation spring cleaning’
A special statewide operation targeting the arrest of 80 suspects from Miami to Pensacola, Fla. for their roles in insurance fraud schemes, dubbed “operation spring cleaning,” was launched in early May by the Division of Insurance Fraud.
“Operation spring cleaning” was one of the largest-ever statewide round-ups of suspects wanted for insurance scams costing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Tom Gallagher, Florida’s CFO, explained. “All Floridians pay for the crimes these suspects commit through increased insurance costs. We’re sending a message that we will continue to tirelessly pursue anyone who attempts to defraud hardworking Floridians.”
Gallagher estimated that all Floridians pay $1,400 a year in additional insurance costs as a result of insurance fraud.
Detectives with the Depart-ment of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud made arrests for a variety of schemes including filing fraudulent hurricane claims, selling bogus insurance, staging auto accidents, fraudulently collecting premiums and faking injuries to obtain workers’ compensation benefits.
Gallagher said arrests were also made for prescription fraud and presenting fraudulent insurance cards.
Operation Spring Cleaning kicked off with 40 arrests, including 12 for Personal Injury Protection insurance fraud.
Other arrests were made for workers’ compensation fraud, health insurance fraud and hurricane claim fraud; in addition, one suspect was arrested for operating as an unlicensed public adjuster, and one suspect was arrested for agent fraud.
The first 40 arrests were made in Broward, Miami, Pensacola and Tallahassee.
PIP fraud targeted
PIP fraud most often involves staging auto accidents or filing fraudulent accident reports in order to bill auto insurance companies for medical care that was unnecessary or never rendered.
Workers’ compensation fraud can range from employers understating payroll or avoiding paying premiums to workers faking injuries to collect benefits.
Building on past efforts to combat insurance fraud, Gallagher was pushing again, during the legislative session, to tighten PIP fraud penalties, including extending a minimum two-year prison sentence to anyone who files a fraudulent insurance claim for a “phantom” accident. The legislation was sponsored by Rep. David Rivera and Sen. J.D. Alexander.
More detectives needed
Gallagher is pushing for additional fraud detectives and six more dedicated prosecutors to be placed in Duval, Pasco/Pinellas, Orange, Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Broward counties. Two dedicated prosecutors already are in Miami-Dade County.
In 2003, the Legislature passed tougher workers’ compensation laws that, in tandem with increased arrests, have led to a more than 30-percent decrease in premiums and about $1 billion in savings for small businesses.
Tougher laws critical
Tougher laws, and aggressive investigation and prosecution of insurance fraud, are critical to combat insurance fraud, officials contend. In February, the fraud division made 21 arrests for 10 staged auto crashes in the Tampa Bay area and nearly $1 million in fake claims; and made 25 workers’ comp fraud arrests. The Fraud Division has made more than 3,200 fraud arrests in five years.