Florida authorities have charged a public adjuster and a rental property tenant with fraud after they allegedly falsified documents, filed a false claim and received a check from Scottsdale Insurance Co., a Nationwide surplus lines subsidiary.
The Florida Department of Financial Services said Wednesday that a public adjuster named Soraya Keber, of No Risk Claims Adjusters in Miami, worked with renter Yaneiris Cepeda in 2020 to file a claim over a burst pipe. Keber submitted a public adjusting contract with the property owner’s name and a $47,000 damage estimate, DFS explained.
The owner later said that he had never signed the paperwork and did not initiate the claim.
Scottsdale eventually settled the claim and made a payment of more than $10,000 to Keber, the property owner and the mortgage company, the office said. Keber cashed the check, deducted her percentage and wrote a check to Cepeda for the remaining amount.
DFS did not explain how the alleged fraud was uncovered, or how the scheme advanced to the point of a settlement payment. Investigators began looking into the matter in 2023 after a complaint was received.
DFS online records show that Keber is an all-lines public adjuster, appointed since 2007. She could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening at her claims adjuster office phone or email.
If convicted of the charges, the two alleged perpetrators could receive up to 25 years in prison, DFS noted.