Florida insurance fraud ring busted

Seven people have been arrested in Florida in connection with an insurance fraud scheme that hit insurance companies with $60,000 in false claims, according to the state's division of insurance fraud.

The state department of financial services insurance fraud division, in cooperation with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and North Miami Police Department, conducted the arrests without incident and more arrests are pending.

The individuals allegedly damaged cars in one area and then drove to an intersection to stage an accident. They then would allegedly file fraudulent accident reports and seek medical treatment from a rehabilitation center that was in on the scam, in order to collect personal injury protection (PIP) claims from auto insurance companies.

"Arrests like these send a strong message that PIP scams will not be tolerated in Florida," said Florida CFO Alex Sink. "Fraud doesn't just hurt insurance companies - it inflicts real financial pain on families, businesses and communities. I commend our dedicated division of insurance fraud for their work to uncover and stop this scheme."

The Florida division of insurance fraud made over 800 insurance fraud-related arrests in the last fiscal year.

Get matched with auto insurance companies FREE at RateMarketplace.com.