Florida Property and Casualty Insurance Fraud Task Force

September 30, 2020

Embattled Florida attorney Scot Strems, who, with his firm, has filed thousands of assignment of benefit and first party lawsuits against Florida property insurers over the last several years, has been found by a court-appointed referee to have violated more than a dozen rules regulating the Florida Bar.

September 28, 2020

The Florida Department of Financial Services has deployed its Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team (DFAST) to the Florida Panhandle, as well as activated the state’s emergency adjuster license system to assist with recovery efforts from Hurricane Sally.

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According to a statement from DFS, the DFAST strike team will work to protect storm victims from fraud attempts following the Category 2 storm that hit the region on Sept. 16. The DFAST deployment consists of eight insurance fraud and workers’ compensation investigators positioned in the storm impacted areas including Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.

June 22, 2020

Speaking of cooking up and inflating claims, many of you are following the Strems Law Firm Supreme Court actions and now others are piling on.  Last week, Citizens Property Insurance filed suit alleging Scot Strems and his firm, along with several associates, conspired to defraud Citizens into paying for sham first-party property insurance claims.  This is the latest action against Strems and follows his law license suspension and subsequent complaints filed by The Florida Bar against him and a second attorney in the firm.

June 22, 2020

This petition of The Florida Bar seeks emergency relief and requires the immediate attention of the Supreme Court pursuant to R. Regulating Fla. Bar 3- 5.2. The Florida Bar seeks the emergency suspension of Scot Strems, Attorney No. 42524, from the practice of law in Florida based upon facts that establish clearly and convincingly that Mr. Strems and his firm are causing great public harm.

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Read how for years the Strems Law Firm has impacted insurance companies and insurance consumers across Florida.  

April 27, 2020

The Florida Supreme Court is being asked to decide the question of whether it’s appropriate for a public adjuster to also serve as a disinterested appraiser in a property damage claims dispute.  And of particular interest, this case involves contingency fees from the appraisal process.

March 31, 2020

 Three Tampa area men who made the six-hour trip to the Panhandle to supposedly help elderly Hurricane Michael victims repair their damaged homes have now pled guilty in federal court to scamming them out of more than $300,000.

The feds charged Edward Newton of Lutz, who they say used his two businesses, Newton Remodeling and Statewide Marketing, to carry out the fraudulent scheme.  The indictment charged Newton with hiring Christopher Mayes of Tarpon Springs and Christian Pantazonis of Largo to go door to door in Bay County soliciting home repair contracts, a month after Hurricane Michael struck in October of 2018.

March 17, 2020

The April Meeting for the Property Fraud Task Force has been cancelled.

February 26, 2020

Several carriers seeking double digit rate hikes due in part to significant increases in reinsurance costs and claims related to Hurricane Irma in 2017.  

February 24, 2020

A Florida man has been accused of lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma, federal prosecutors announced this week. 

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An indictment was returned charging Deontre Javan Taylor, 26, of Jacksonville, with disaster assistance fraud. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

December 02, 2019

Court records show that 37-year-old Karen Latrice Houston was convicted by a jury in Tampa federal court this week of three counts of theft of government funds. She faces up to 10 years in prison for each count..

December 02, 2019

Over a three-day sting last week, detectives teamed up with the Sarasota County Building Department, the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud and the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). Together, they contact people advertising home repair services that require a license to complete.

December 02, 2019

Former and current Panhandle public officials – including a federal administrator – are among 34 charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with “widespread public corruption” in misappropriating disaster assistance funds.

October 09, 2019

Kinnecorps owner Roger Van Den Bosch -- the Jacksonville roofer the I-TEAM has been investigating for two years as storm victims claimed he took their home insurance money to fix roof and home damage but didn't finish the work -- is at the center of a new court battle in a neighboring county.

October 09, 2019

A Tallahassee insurance salesman and another man were arrested on insurance fraud charges involving the still-unsolved killings of three family members whose bodies were found in 2018 in the charred remains of a vacant house that had been set on fire.

September 03, 2019

Prosecutors have filed 18 new felony grand theft charges against a Jacksonville contractor.

August 26, 2019

As the scale and frequency of major disasters escalate, millions of dollars in federal, state and insurance payments intended for recovery efforts are being stolen by fraudsters taking advantage of chaos and the pipeline of aid flowing into the stricken areas.

August 12, 2019

The Florida Supreme Court has decided it will not hear an assignment of benefits case, citing the recently passed law that the court says eliminates the need for judicial review.

August 02, 2019

The Citizens Board of Governors in June scaled back the planned increase after lawmakers passed a measure this spring that revamped a controversial insurance practice known as assignment of benefits.

July 29, 2019

A former Miami insurance agent has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $1.7 million in insurance premiums from two insurance premium finance companies, according a statement from Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis.

July 08, 2019

A dozen current and former Miami-Dade County Public Schools bus employees have been arrested for filing fraudulent insurance claims totaling more than $400,000, authorities said.

An investigation by state of Florida fraud detectives found the employees used the personal information of nearly 11 children to file fraudulent insurance reimbursement claims.

June 03, 2019

Florida’s Department of Financial Services had accused Van Den Bosch of defrauding customers by requesting they sign an assignment of benefits, known as AOB, which allowed his company to accept payment from the insurance company for the repairs. But investigators said that after the checks were received and cashed, the contractor didn’t perform the contracted work.

May 29, 2019

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office working with investigators from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation arrest 17 people.  

April 30, 2019

An insurance fraud scheme in Miami-Dade – the type of scam leads to increased insurance premiums for all consumers – has been dismantled, according to officials.

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Nine people have been arrested over the $600,000 Miami-Dade homeowners insurance fraud scheme. The arrests were the result of a year-long fraud investigation named "Operation Rubicon."

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"Arrests include individuals and business owners allegedly involved in a large-scale organized scheme to defraud insurance companies out of more than $600,000 in fraudulent insurance claims," Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a statement.

April 26, 2019

Thank you Senator Broxson!  Governor says he will sign bill which will become law on 7/1/19

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• Define “assignment agreement” and establishing requirements for the execution, validity, and effect of such an agreement

• Prohibit certain fees and altering policy provisions related to managed repairs in an assignment agreement

• Transfer certain pre-lawsuit duties under the insurance contract to the assignee and shifting the burden to the assignee to prove that any failure to carry out such duties has not limited the insurer’s ability to perform under the contract

• Require each insurer to report specified data on claims paid in the prior year under assignment agreements by January 30, 2022, and each year thereafter

• Allow an insurer to make available a policy prohibiting assignment, in whole or in part, under certain conditions

• Revise the state’s one-way attorney fee statute to incorporate an attorney fee structure in determining the fee amount awarded in suits by an assignee against an insurer

• Require service providers to give an insurer and the consumer prior written notice of at least 10 business days before filing suit on a claim.

April 26, 2019

Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation cites Green.  Many now coming forward saying that work not completed after paying Green.

April 01, 2019

Orestes Valentin Rodriguez, owner of Blue Guard Insurance Group Inc., is accused of pocketing insurance premiums from a property management company representing a Miami homeowner’s association and never paying the association’s insurance.

March 25, 2019

The real truth about AOB's

March 11, 2019

Office of Attorney General sues defendants seeking temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten monies, civil penalties as well as other equitable relief

March 06, 2019

Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis Patronis launched Fraud Free Florida, a new initiative aimed at better coordinating collective investigative efforts to protect Florida’s large population, especially seniors, from scam artists. 

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The initiative will bring together statewide law enforcement officials, local state attorneys, private sector stakeholders, and members of CFO Patronis’ fraud investigative teams. Its goal will be to help Florida stay ahead of new scams and take on rampant fraud already taking place including fraud at unscrupulous opioid treatment centers, public assistance fraud, identity theft, and cybersecurity issues.

March 04, 2019

The St. Lucie County case focuses on a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by the firm Restoration 1 of Port St. Lucie against Ark Royal Insurance Co. Policyholders John and Liza Squitieri sustained water damage to their home, and Liza Squitieri contracted with Restoration 1 of Port St. Lucie to do cleanup work and assigned the benefits to the firm, according to a September ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal.

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Ark Royal, however, refused to pay the full amount requested by the restoration firm, pointing to an insurance contract that required approval from the husband, wife and the Squitieris’ mortgage company, PNC Bank, for benefits to be assigned to the contractor. Restoration 1 sued the insurer for breach of contract but lost in circuit court and the 4th District Court of Appeal.

February 19, 2019

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced today the arrest of Mary Bruce for alleged unlicensed practice of public adjusting and grand theft related to Hurricane Irma. Bruce attempted to steal more than $68,000 in fraudulent claims. This is Bruce's second arrest for insurance fraud this year. She bonded out of jail in January and was arrested again on separate charges.

December 21, 2018

Nearly all policyholders will see an increase due to the cost of increased litigation

December 23, 2018

Another case involving an AOB - The owner of Kinnecorps LLC, Roger Van Den Bosch, was arrested Monday, charged with five felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and grand theft. State fraud investigators said he’s defrauded clients out of more than $50,000 by taking payments, including money from insurance companies, and not doing the work.

September 10, 2018

Appellant Restoration 1 of Port St. Lucie sued appellee Ark Royal Insurance Company for breach of contract and sought a declaratory judgment determining that a clause in an insurance contract requiring the signatures of all insureds and mortgagees for an assignment of benefits violated Florida law. Ark Royal successfully moved to dismiss the complaint. Restoration 1 now appeals the dismissal order, arguing that Ark Royal’s anti-assignment provision was illegal.1 As explained below, we disagree and therefore affirm.

July 11, 2018

Sarasota County Detectives working with the Sarasota County Building Department and the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Investigative and Forensic Services along with the Florida Department of Business and Professional regulation arrest 12 people on 12 felony and 12 misdemeanor charges.  

July 11, 2018

Florida Dept. of Insurance, Division of Investigative and Forensic Services charges individual on theft and insurance fraud

June 11, 2018

The Investigative and Forensic Services, which is the law enforcement component of the Florida Department of Financial Services, handled the investigation. Department spokesman Jon Moore said Cox had stolen close to $140,000 from 18 Florida victims and their insurance carriers. The victims were in Volusia, Flagler, Brevard, Clay, Escambia, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

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Prior public postings:

https://www.wftv.com/news/action-9/action-9-gets-results-after-roofer-disappears-with-insurance-settlement/449014355

https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/nationwide-catastrophe-services/orlando-florida-32819/nationwide-catastrophe-services-tim-cox-6-months-to-get-a-roof-owner-will-not-call-you-1263139

http://agenda.myescambia.com/docs/2017/CCB/20170405_3838/11878_Cox%20-%20InvestigatorsNotes%20-%20Rampart.pdf  

May 31, 2018

Great article in the Sun Sentinel on how Florida Legislatures need to act now to provide relief on increasing insurance premiums that are already starting to impact Florida Homeowners.  The Task Force has reported on the affects that AOB's would have on insurance rates.   

May 24, 2018

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May 10, 2018

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