Published: May 23, 2024, 3:44 PM
Updated: May 24, 2024, 2:34 PM
MIAMI – Four men told a Florida Highway Patrol trooper that a gold 2006 Honda Odyssey accidentally rear-ended a red 2022 Toyota Corolla that crashed into a tree near State Road 826 in Miami-Dade County.
Detective Jorge Rodriguez, a Florida Department of Financial Services investigator, reported it wasn’t what it seemed. Both cars were insured, so Progressive paid $32,000, and National General about $24,000.
And while insurance companies estimate making about $308 billion in fraudulent claim payments annually nationwide, including $42.5 billion for auto fraud, Rodriguez reported that it was one of such scams.
Rodriguez reported evidence shows Bryan Hernandez, Ruslan Rivero, Juan Fonseca Lauzao, and Elvis Fonseca Lauzao had lied to cheat the system.
Rodriguez reported the men “know each other” and Hernandez and Juan Fonseca Lauzao “intentionally crashed both vehicles,” and “submitted false/fraudulent documentation in support of their claim.”
Records show the men reported getting treatment at Atlantic Medical Diagnostic, Dragon Clinic, and Nakelly Medical Center. Rodriguez reported the claims for damages “are inconsistent” with the data found with the Toyota ACM Techstream software, which uses the car’s front-facing camera.
Data from a recorder in the Toyota showed three frontal impacts on March 11-12, and since the third was at about 24 to 30 mph “the driver and passenger side seatbelts were buckled, the airbags were commanded not to deploy and the brake pedal was never pressed,” Rodriguez wrote.
Miami-Dade County correctional officers booked Juan Fonseca Lauzao on Wednesday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He faced charges of insurance fraud, fraudulent insurance claims, grand theft, and an organized scheme to defraud.
Correctional officers also booked Elvis Fonseca Lauzao on Wednesday. He faced charges of insurance fraud solicitation, grand theft, and an organized scheme to defraud.
Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, announced on Friday that all four suspects were arrested, and he released a statement saying, “PIP fraud not only undermines the integrity of our insurance markets but also imposes an undue financial burden on every Florida resident in the form of inflated insurance premiums.”
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.