Florida
Property insurance fraud a growing problem in Florida
BOCA RATON, Fla. — WPTV has brought you a series of stories about the rising costs of property insurance that many Florida residents are calling a crisis.
This has come with several arrests across the Sunshine State related to property insurance fraud — a crime that continues to grow.
At a bond hearing on Oct. 31, Naser Hasan Al-Sweity, the owner of Florida P&C Insurance in Boca Raton, was arraigned on 23 embezzlement and fraud charges.
The charges ranged from misappropriation of insurance funds to fraudulent use of personal identification and organized scheme to defraud.
Similar charges were also brought against four Miami men who were accused of carrying out an insurance fraud scheme in September. Investigators said they attempted to defraud an elderly homeowner of $57,000 in insurance claims.
WPTV
Also, a group of four people were arrested in Tampa in December in a roofing fraud scheme.
There was also one arrest in Lee County in December in a $214,000 fraud scheme.
“How big of a problem would you say this is in Florida?” WPTV reporter Jessica Bruno asked Stacey Giulianti, the co-founder of Florida Peninsula Insurance Company in Boca Raton
“Insurance fraud nationwide is a $300 billion a year annual problem,” Giulianti said. “That’s a huge amount of money and in Florida, it’s between $40-$50 billion.”
WPTV
Giulianti said a lot of these bad actors tend to take advantage of communities that have been affected by a natural disaster, like a hurricane.
“One of the biggest ways are out of state, unlicensed contractors and repair personnel coming in, especially after a storm, and they take money upfront to do a job, and they don’t actually do the job,” Giulianti said. “They take the money, they disappear and they’re gone.”
As we start a new year, Giulianti offered some important reminders for homeowners.
“First of all, many insurance companies offer preferred contractors or preferred vendors and those people have been background checked, they’ve been checked out,” Giulianti said. “So if your insurance company offers something like that, utilize that service, it’s a great way to go.”
Residents can also look up the company’s licenses by going to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation website.
“Type in a name or company name and you’ll find out if they’re licensed in the state of Florida and if it’s an active license,” Giulianti said. “It’s gonna take everybody, customers, the state of Florida and the insurance companies working together to stop this type of fraud.”
The legislative session begins this week and several bills related to property insurance will be up for debate.
WPTV will be live at the state Capitol this week speaking with local lawmakers about the insurance crisis.
Florida
Florida Gov. DeSantis, cabinet green light $90M for immigration enforcement
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet on Tuesday approved $90 million in grants for local law enforcement agencies for items related to enforcement of illegal immigration.
The $90 million is for new and amended grants to 56 county and city police departments for radios, body cameras, riot gear, ballistic helmets, X-ray machines, inmate restraint chairs and other items.
DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who comprise the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, unanimously approved the funding.
Out of the $90 million in grants, $30.3 million is for new awards and $57 million are additional funds for law enforcement agencies that had already asked for assistance.
In the latest batch of requests, Orange County and Polk County sheriff offices asked for the most money. The bulk of Orange County’s $10 million proposal is for equipment, with $9 million of those funds going to 910 portable radios.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office asked for $10 million, with $8.7 million being spent on encrypted radio device systems and servers. The current radios the sheriff’s office uses cannot communicate with ICE agents because they lack encryption capabilities, the request says.
“With the proposed upgrades, communication with ICE will be enabled, ultimately reducing the risk of our officers and ICE agents, and strengthening the overall security of our sensitive communications,” the request states.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office south about $9 million, which includes more than $2.5 million for a rapid DNA testing system and 2,000 DNA processing swabs.
“With DNA results available quickly, we can reduce detention and processing times, resolve immigration status faster, and reallocate resources to more critical enforcement and investigative tasks,” Walton County’s request says.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office requested more than $8 million, with about $5 million to be used for communication equipment, including radios. Notably, the county is asking for $600,000 for two Skywatch mobile towers to “enhance situation awareness and support immigration enforcement operations.”
The state has approved $147 million in immigration enforcement grants and disbursed almost $5 million to 25 local law enforcement agencies, according to Transparency Florida, a state website that tracks government spending.
Lawmakers in 2025 set aside $250 million to reimburse local law enforcement for purchases related to illegal immigration enforcement, including overtime for officers who participate in operations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The board also extended an emergency rule allowing funds to reimburse agencies with an agreement with ICE for vehicle purchases.
Local law enforcement agencies are allowed to buy one multi-passenger van to transport immigrants between county, state and federal detention facilities.
Florida
Hulk Hogan died of natural causes, Florida police report says in closing investigation
MIAMI (AP) — Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan died of natural causes last year, according to a report by Florida police that formally closes the investigation into his death.
The Clearwater Police Department released a 72-page report on Friday summarizing an exhaustive review of statements, medical records, surveillance footage and a visual inspection of the body. Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, died last July 24 at age 71.
“There has been no evidence to indicate the death of Terry Bollea was anything other than natural,” the report said. “Through the course of the investigation, there has been no evidence to indicate any criminal wrongdoing related to his death. This case will be closed, and will be considered solved, non-criminal.”
According to the report, Hogan’s wife, as well as a home health aide and an occupational therapist, were all with Hogan at his home when he stopped breathing. His wife, Sky Daily Hogan, called 911, and then the trio performed CPR on Hulk Hogan until firefighters and paramedics arrived.
Family members told investigators that Hogan had been suffering from multiple heath issues in the weeks before his death, including leukemia, an irregular hearth rhythm, pneumonia and kidney failure. He had also undergone many hospitalizations and surgeries in the years before his death.
Early statements made by the occupational therapist to police led to speculation that Hogan’s death was related to damage done to his phrenic nerve during a recent surgery. But the occupational therapist later said that he was still rattled from performing CPR and was speaking out of turn.
The local medical examiner had concluded Hogan died from a heart attack and declined to perform a full autopsy. A private autopsy paid for by the family backed up the initial assessment, finding “no reasonable traumatic or terminal toxicologic contributions.”
READ MORE: After Hulk Hogan’s sudden death, here are a cardiologist’s tips for avoiding chronic disease
Hogan was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history, known for both his larger-than-life personality and his wrestling exploits. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.
Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. He had been removed from the Hall of Fame in 2015 after he was recorded making racial slurs against Black people, for which he apologized.
A well-attended but private funeral service was held several weeks after Hogan’s death at a church in Largo, Florida.
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