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.
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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.”
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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 man arrested after suspected human remains found buried at property where his father lived
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A Florida man was arrested Monday after investigators uncovered suspected human remains buried at a Marion County property while investigating the disappearance of his father, according to authorities and an arrest affidavit viewed by Fox News Digital.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said deputies began investigating the disappearance of 43-year-old Andres Bahamon-Prada on May 16, after a family member reported he had not been seen since May 7.
Authorities said Bahamon-Prada lived with his 25-year-old son, Andres Bahamon, at a home in Dunnellon.
During the investigation, detectives uncovered evidence suggesting foul play may have been involved in Bahamon-Prada’s disappearance, prompting authorities to investigate the case as a homicide.
TEXAS COUPLE ARRESTED AFTER BODY OF SPECIAL NEEDS SON, 26, DISCOVERED BURIED IN BACKYARD
Andres Bahamon was arrested Monday in connection with his father’s disappearance investigation, authorities said. (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the affidavit viewed by Fox News Digital, Bahamon initially told deputies he last saw his father on the evening of May 7, after Bahamon-Prada returned home and claimed someone unknown was coming to pick him up.
Detectives also noted Bahamon-Prada’s silver 2007 Infiniti M35 disappeared from the property several days later and remains missing.
The victim’s mother later told investigators she believed Bahamon killed his father after she encountered him near a local store, according to the affidavit. She told deputies the suspect said he believed the victim was dead and “in hell where he deserves to be” because he was “an evil person” and a “junkie.”
When deputies responded to the Dunnellon property on May 18, investigators reported finding shattered glass doors with what appeared to be a bullet hole, a shell casing near the porch, suspected bloodstains and freshly disturbed dirt in the backyard, according to the affidavit.
MAN UNCOVERS MISSING FATHER’S BONES BURIED BENEATH FAMILY HOME, UNLEASHING ‘A THOUSAND’ OTHER SECRETS
Authorities are searching for Andres Bahamon-Prada’s silver 2007 Infiniti M35, which investigators believe may contain evidence connected to the homicide investigation. (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
Authorities also learned Bahamon allegedly sent his mother, who lives in Germany, a photograph depicting a man appearing deceased near wooden steps at the property, investigators said. According to the affidavit viewed by Fox News Digital, the image appeared to show a man matching Bahamon-Prada’s description lying motionless beside the steps with a large red stain visible near his head and shirt.
Detectives later obtained a search warrant for the property and discovered what they described as a large rolled carpet buried beneath freshly disturbed dirt.
“Upon investigating and digging into that area of dirt, detectives encountered the odor of decomposition,” the affidavit states.
FLORIDA MAN ALLEGEDLY STUFFED HUMAN REMAINS IN TWO SUITCASES FOUND IN REMOTE ‘COMPOUND’
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said deputies began investigating the disappearance of 43-year-old Andres Bahamon-Prada in Dunnellon, Fla. (Marion County Sheriff’s Office, File)
Authorities said detectives ultimately uncovered suspected human remains inside the carpet, though investigators are still working to positively identify the remains.
As the investigation progressed, detectives identified Bahamon as a person of interest in the case. He was arrested Monday and charged with tampering with evidence in the missing-person investigation.
Investigators wrote in the affidavit that they believe Bahamon concealed or removed the victim’s body in an attempt to impair the homicide investigation.
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Authorities are continuing to search for Bahamon-Prada’s missing silver 2007 Infiniti M35, which detectives believe may contain evidence connected to the case.
Anyone with information about the vehicle or the investigation is urged to contact the Marion County Sheriff’s Office at 352-732-9111.
Florida
U.S. says suspected drug trafficker rescued from plane crash off Florida linked to Bahamas politician
Opposition leaders in the Bahamas are demanding an investigation into a suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida and was allegedly found with roughly $30,000, according to a U.S. federal agent. The money was inside a bag labeled with the name of an unidentified high-ranking politician from the archipelago.
The suspect, who was deported to the Bahamas more than a decade ago after being convicted on drug and money laundering charges, is accused of trafficking cocaine through the Bahamas to the U.S.
He also is accused of meeting the unnamed politician in October 2024 at the Bahamian Parliament in Nassau to talk about a deal involving some 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of cocaine, according to a court document filed May 14 in the Southern District of New York, a day after the plane crash. It stated that the politician “could provide security for the planned cocaine shipment” and was introduced to an unnamed suspect as a “future associate.”
The allegations are the latest blow to the Bahamas, whose police commissioner resigned in December 2024 after a sergeant and two officers were indicted in what the U.S. Justice Department at the time called “a massive cocaine conspiracy enabled by corrupt Bahamian government officials.”
“Since at least May 2021, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas for importation into the U.S. with the help and support of corrupt Bahamian government officials,” the Justice Department said in 2024 when announcing charges against the chief superintendent of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Michael Pintard, leader of the opposition Free National Movement party, claimed Monday that he does not believe the Bahamas’ prime minister, who secured reelection the day of the plane crash, will hold anyone accountable.
“We issued warnings about the close relationship between members of this administration and characters of interest to police locally and internationally,” he told reporters.
Latrae Rahming, spokesman for the office of the prime minister, shared a statement with The Associated Press on Tuesday noting that the government is taking the matter “extremely seriously.” It stated that local law enforcement will launch its own inquiry and that the government will reach out to U.S. officials to seek the sharing of information and obtain any available evidence, adding that it has received no official information identifying any public official related to the case.
“The position of the Government of The Bahamas remains wherever wrongdoing is established, any person involved will be held accountable without fear or favor, and the chips will fall where they may,” the statement read.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Michael Coleman asserted in his deposition that multiple drug trafficking organizations are ferrying loads “under the protection of local officials” in the Bahamas.
He alleged that the suspected drug trafficker who survived the plane crash owns a business he uses to “bid on Bahamian government-issued construction contracts and launder his narcotics trafficking proceeds.”
Coleman said the suspect was one of 11 people who survived the crash off the coast of Florida late last week. He was rescued and later arrested. The pilot told CBS News he lost both engines, all communication and avionics in the lead-up to the crash.
“Basically, lost my navigation, all radios — flying over 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Ian Nixon, the 43-year-old Bahamian pilot and father of three, told CBS News. “I did my best. I had a lot of stuff going on in the aircraft — just trying to get that under control.”
Dr. Duane Sands, chairman of the Free National Movement party, told The Nassau Guardian newspaper on Monday that the current administration was bringing shame and embarrassment to the Bahamas as he called for a commission of inquiry.
“The Bahamian people are entitled to know,” he was quoted as saying. “The heart and soul of our country are at stake.”
Florida
Roger Goodell says NFL is cooperating with Florida AG after receiving subpoena
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is cooperating with Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier after being issued a subpoena.
Uthmeier sent the subpoena to the NFL on May 13 as his office investigates whether the league has committed potential civil rights violations related to the Rooney Rule and the league’s other employment practices, policies and programs.
“I think we have been very clear about our programs, and we obviously evaluate them all the time, not just for how they get better, but also to make sure that they’re consistent with the law,” Goodell said Tuesday during league meetings in Orlando, Florida. “We’re engaging with the Florida attorney general and will continue to. We’ll share everything we’re doing with them. We think it’s certainly within the law, but also something very positive.”
Uthmeier threatened possible enforcement actions against the league in March if it didn’t suspend the 23-year-old Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.
Uthmeier said in a letter to Goodell that the Rooney Rule amounts to “blatant race and sex discrimination.”
The subpoena orders the league to appear at the attorney general’s office in Tallahassee, Florida, on June 12. It asks the league to produce extensive documents, including “all diversity reports, coaching census data, or demographic surveys that reflect the race and sex of coaching staffs of the teams from 2017 to the present.”
Among the programs being reviewed by Uthmeier’s office is the accelerator program, which the league created in 2022 as an extension of the Rooney Rule to increase diversity among coaches and front office executives.
The accelerator program gives participants an opportunity to connect with owners and team executives, and attend informative sessions designed to equip them for future interviews.
The NFL held its revamped accelerator program on Monday and Tuesday in Orlando after pausing it last May. It now includes nonminority participants and nearly half of this year’s group were white men.
“There are a lot of candidates up there that are diverse, that are getting the opportunity to improve themselves and to get exposure, to get an opportunity,” Goodell said. “So, the people that are up there are the best of the best and they are a very diverse group, but they are the best of the best. And what we’re trying to do here is to make them even better and to give them opportunities. And that’s what I heard is that one, they appreciate the opportunity; two, it was helpful in that.”
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