Three women who face multiple charges including racketeering and grand theft have bonded out of jail, after Miami-Dade Police investigators busted a fraudulent accident clinic on Monday accused of filing false insurance claims to bring in profits.
The elaborate scheme consisted of recruiting patients to stage automobile accidents then go to the clinic for care they never received.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
>
WATCH HEREBut according to the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Wise Care Corp. clinic in northwest Miami-Dade still filed insurance claims.
Heidy Gonzalez-Perez, 26, 45-year-old Elizabeth Montero, and 39-year-old Maray Arteaga were arrested at the clinic on Monday and appeared before a judge on Tuesday. A judge granted them bonds ranging between $26,000 and $40,000.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
>
SIGN UP
On Wednesday, they were caught on camera leaving the jail as loved ones shielded their faces from photographers with their arms and umbrellas.
According to Det. Andre Martin, they are among 104 arrests made in Miami-Dade since the launch of a pilot program in March aimed at cracking down on those defrauding insurance companies.
Local
Martin said the investigation started after two drivers, Cynthia Reyes and Yamil Peniche-Lugo, were arrested in July for staging the accident and admitting to it. But three months after Reyes and Peniche-Lugo were arrested, an insurance claim was filed.
That led investigators to the Wise Care Corp. clinic where the three women held various roles.
"Where they are asked to sign numerous medical forms that are pre or postdated, and those forms get turned into the insurance company,” said Martin. "These folks who are staging the accidents are recruited by somebody within the organization and offered money."
The arrest reports highlight how detectives found a slew of blank insurance claim forms that were already signed by patients who rarely, if ever, stepped foot in the office for the treatment billed to their insurance.
Lt. Lazaro Torres is leading the pilot program within the Miami_Dade Police Department that is cracking down on these crimes as the county continues to see an increase in insurance fraud.
"Clinics, attorneys, body shops, all of them are in bed with each other,” said Torres. “Everybody refers to everybody. We are the hub for insurance crimes. That’s why our insurance rates are so high."
Before Torres joined the police department, he worked in the insurance industry. He said this prior experience prompted him to lead the initiative.
"They’re preying on individuals who recently arrived and are hard pressed for cash," said Torres.
Mark Friedlander, with the Insurance Information Institute, said Florida ranks in the top 3 states in the U.S. for insurance fraud, with 1,100 staged accidents occurring in the state annually.
"Your insurance bill is higher by several hundred dollars because of all the fraud that takes place," said Friedlander. "Miami metro has always been one of the largest areas of staged accident volume. It’s always near the top of the list."
