Florida Woman Charged with Comp Fraud After Faking Kidnapping

A Florida woman who said she was kidnapped, raped and thrown out of a vehicle last year has now been charged with insurance fraud.

Alma Delia Duran, 54, of Summerfield, sparked a manhunt in March 2021 around Ocala, in Central Florida, when she claimed that she had been abducted, according to an Ocala newspaper report. Authorities became suspicious, however, and Duran, who is from Mexico, admitted that she had faked the story as part of an effort to remain in the United States.

Prosecutors eventually dropped the charge of making a false report, but have now charged Duran with insurance fraud. The woman reportedly received more than $8,400 in workers’ compensation benefits in 2021. Investigators with the Florida Department of Financial Services dug into the case and recently filed a report with the local prosecutor.

Details about Duran’s workers’ comp claim which carrier paid the benefits, or how the alleged fraud came to light, were not available.