'Operation Dark Horizon' Breaks Up Staged-Accident Ring in Miami

Submitted by Anonymous on March 3, 2011 - 8:17am

A group of clinic owners, doctors and staged-accident "recruiters" was arrested Wednesday in Miami by a state task force cracking down on auto insurance fraud.

"Operation Dark Horizon" netted 17 arrests, with eight more individuals being sought by investigators.

Authorities said the scam involved a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) racket, where auto accidents were staged to bilk insurers through phony claims.

This case is just one example of the hundreds of similar fraud schemes run daily by accident clinics operating throughout Florida, said state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. The fraud schemers bill insurance companies for procedures that never happen, and we all get stuck with the bill through increased auto insurance premiums.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that Florida motorists pay nearly $1 billion in additional costs because of such fraud.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the individuals arrested Wednesday face 142 charges, including racketeering, staging an accident, insurance fraud and grand theft stemming from fraudulent billings filed by five clinics: New Horizon Practice in Miami, Medico de la Familia in Hialeah, Coral Way Rehabilitation Services, Therapium Health Corp. and AB Diagnostic.

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