Miami Staged Accident Scam Nets 5

1, Staged Accidents — By Trace America on October 26, 2011 at 4:22 PM

Several Miami residents who were involved in a staged accident ring have now been arrested, adding them to the long and growing list of Floridians who are committing insurance fraud.

According to the press release, on October 25th, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater announced the arrests of the five individuals involved in the scam. They are: Mario J. Chavez, 53, Robin Nelson Campanioni, Jr., 23, Jorge J. Mota, 27, Naima Basnueva Lastre, 24, and Eduardo Figueredo, 44. They were all charged with insurance fraud, grand theft and staging an auto accident.

“Fake accidents like these are happening everyday in Florida’s biggest cities and are costing Floridians millions of dollars a year in increased auto insurance rates,” said CFO Atwater.

Atwater also stated, “My office is cracking down on this costly crime. The perpetrators will be caught; they will go to jail, and we will work to get Floridians the relief they deserve on their auto insurance premiums.”

The Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud conducted an investigation which revealed that the five suspects met at a house in Miami to plot the staged auto accident and discussed how the scheme would happen.

After faking the accident, the participants sought treatment for their phony injuries at Doral Center Rehab and Justin Medical Services. As a result of the “accident,” nearly $83,000 in fraudulent insurance claims were submitted by the clinics to Geico, Kingsway Amigo, Progressive and Unitrin Direct insurance companies.

Additional arrests are still expected, and if convicted, each suspect could face up to 35 years in prison.

Anyone with information about suspected insurance fraud is asked to call 1-800-378-0445. Callers who provide tips can remain anonymous and are eligible for a reward of up to $25,000 for information if it directly leads to an arrest and conviction in an insurance fraud scheme. As part of its Anti-Fraud Reward Program to date, the Department of Financial Services has awarded almost $250,000 to approximately 40 citizens.


This post is authored by Trace America.

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