MIAMI – A group was facing charges on Thursday in Miami-Dade County after a state agency’s investigation found they had staged a car crash to defraud insurance companies out of about $58,000.
Amauri Rodriguez, Orislaidy Montano, Vadira Sanchez, Ruberlandy Cruzata, and Lixelly Mayari were involved in the scheme, according to The Florida Department of Financial Services’s Division of Investigative and Forensic Services.
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The state agency’s bureau of insurance fraud investigated the Aug. 10 crash at the intersection of Southwest Fourth Street and 14 Avenue in Miami’s Little Havana after a police officer red-flagged it.
Rodriguez was driving the 2011 silver Chevrolet Tahoe that collided with the 2012 blue Volkswagen Jetta that Cruzata was driving, according to the arrest reports.
Surveillance video from a light pole camera showed the crash happened slowly, yet the damage reflected speeding, according to the arrest reports. National General and United Automobile were their insurance companies defrauded, according to investigators.
Records show police officers arrested Rodriguez, Montano, Mayari, and Cruzata on Thursday. They were each facing charges of false fraudulent insurance claims, third-degree grand theft, and insurance fraud.