Chiropractors and Attorneys Part of Busted Florida Car Insurance Fraud Ring

On Thursday, five people were arrested in South Florida over allegations of participating in a car insurance fraud ring in which chiropractors and attorneys worked together to exploit Florida’s system of no-fault insurance.

There were warrants issued for the arrest of two more individuals – all seven are allegedly part of a fraud ring that may very well have defrauded the state out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Investigators reportedly searched one Boca Raton attorney’s law firm on Thursday, where boxes of documents were seized and one man was led out in handcuffs.

Among the arrested were South Florida lawyers and chiropractors – Deerfield Beach attorney Brian Greenspoon, Boca Raton attorney Cory Meltzer, and Hobe Sound chiropractor Roger Hughes Bell. Also arrested were Boynton Beach resident Douglas Santiago, and Homestead resident Alejandro Marin, who allegedly brought patients to the clinics. Warrants were issued for the arrests of two more individuals involved – Lake Worth chiropractor Ryan Grand, and Stuart secretary Christina Savoye.

According to Division of Insurance Fraud Capt. Rafael Delgado, the accused face charges that include insurance fraud and patient solicitation. Delgado explained that the car insurance fraud scheme involved the accused calling car accident victims, promising them money if they’d seek treatment at certain chiropractic clinics, even though they weren’t actually injured. The clinics billed insurance companies for treatments, then the attorneys sent demand letters to the insurance carriers for bodily injuries.

The level of car insurance fraud in a particular city or state has a huge impact on car insurance rates in that area – when fraud rings such as this one defraud insurers, premiums inevitably rise for innocent drivers across the city or state.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater recently said in a statement that these arrests “are the culmination of more than a year of extensive and often dangerous undercover work that has exposed a crime ring responsible for potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraud. I am very proud of our dedicated detectives for their diligent work to hold these criminals accountable.”