The Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud/Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Fraud and Division of Workers’ Compensation released their annual fraud report on January 1, 2007 for the period of July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006.
During this period there were 224 arrests and 184 convictions for insurance fraud. Of these, 48 convictions were related to claimant fraud, 85 were related to employers without workers’ compensation coverage, 32 for fraudulent certificates of insurance, 7 for premium fraud, 6 for uttering a forged instrument, and 6 for grand theft. This was an increase from the previous year.
The largest increase involved employers working without workers’ compensation coverage. This included a significant increase in premium fraud and money laundering, specifically involving third parties that form bogus corporations, obtain a minimal insurance policy and then sell the certificate of insurance to uninsured subcontractors so that they can provide proof of coverage to general contractors.
