14 Floridians Arrested in PIP Fraud Ring

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher announced the arrests of 14 individuals in Tampa–including a former sheriff’s deputy–for patient brokering. The patients were “sold” to at least seven medical clinics for up to $1,000 each.

Most of the patients were solicited after auto accidents, some of which were staged. The patients were sold for $800 or more to medical clinics that would bill auto insurance companies, under the patients’ Personal Injury Protection coverage, up to $10,000 per treatment. The patients were sold again, for up to $200 to diagnostics facilities for X-rays or MRIs adding up to thousands of dollars more in insurance claims.