The East Central Region is responsible for the enforcement of insurance related crimes committed in Brevard, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Seminole St. Lucie and Volusia counties. To this end, the region has established two field offices: West Palm Beach and Orlando.

The West Palm Beach office is composed of three squads located at 3111 South Dixie Hwy, Suite 310, West Palm Beach, Florida. The Orlando Office is comprised of two squads located at 400 W. Robinson Street, Orlando, Florida.

East Central Region Commander

Captain Glen Hughes

Captain John “Glen” Hughes, a resident of Palm Beach County since 1978, began his 24+ year law enforcement career in 1985 after graduating from the Florida State University, School of Criminology. Captain Hughes was a criminal investigator for the Palm Beach County State Attorney until joining the Division in 1993. During his eight years at the State Attorney's Office, Captain Hughes' many assignments included the investigation of Official Corruption and white collar crime cases working closely with prosecutors in the major crimes unit preparing cases for trial

Captain Hughes is in his eighteenth year of service with the Florida Department of Financial Services, Fraud Division. Hughes was designated Lead Detective in 2000 and promoted to Lieutenant in June 2008. During his tenure with the Division Captain Hughes has investigated numerous major cases, executed and supervised the execution of many search warrants and coordinated the seizure of volumes of documentary evidence. Over the course of his career Hughes has worked closely with the Office of Statewide Prosecution and participated in several statewide Grand Jury initiatives

Captain Hughes was the Division representative on the Safeguard Our Seniors (SOS) Task Force and DFS Senior Protection Team. Captain Hughes has served as a media contact for the division and has appeared in local news articles, local and national television and in Kiplinger’s magazine

In 2009, then Lieutenant Hughes supervised the Division’s first Mortgage Fraud Unit housed in the West Palm Beach Field Office. The Mortgage Fraud Unit’s main objective is to target organized groups that exploited mortgage lenders by falsifying or withholding information in their closing documents. The DFS Mortgage Fraud Unit continues to be a member agency of the FBI Mortgage Fraud Task Force and is presenting cases for prosecution in both Federal and State courts.

In April 2010, Hughes was promoted to Captain and assumed command of the Division’s East Central Region. The East Central Region consists of 23 full-time sworn law enforcement officers working in four squads located in Palm Beach and Orlando.

Captain Hughes is a certified fraud examiner, has taught at the DFS fraud detective’s academy and graduated third in his class from the Southern Police Institute’s (SPI), Command Officer’s Development Course in 2010. Captain Hughes is currently participating in the DFS leadership excellence (LEX) program.

Lieutenant Kurt Harmon, Orlando Field Office

Kurt Harmon grew up on the west coast of Florida and eventually moved to Orlando to attend the University of Central Florida. While there, Lt Harmon was employed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in the communications section. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1998, he obtained his State of Florida law enforcement certification and continued working at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff. During his tenure as a deputy sheriff, he received agency wide awards and recognition for his outstanding work and dedication. Lt Harmon was a field training officer and promoted to deputy first class.

In 2003, Lt Harmon continued his career as a detective with the Division of Insurance Fraud. While learning the field of insurance fraud, Lt Harmon excelled in the workers’ compensation squad and made numerous arrests. He was given the Outstanding Performance Award by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation for two consecutive years for his high performance level. Lt Harmon was active on the workers’ compensation fraud task force and participated in subcommittees dedicated to curtailing premium fraud in the construction industry. In 2006, the workers’ compensation fraud task force recognized him for his outstanding service and performance.

On June 1, 2008, Lt. Harmon was promoted to his current position as a lieutenant of the Orlando Field Office. While holding the rank of lieutenant, Lt. Harmon successfully completed the command officers’ development course at the Southern Police Institute and became a certified fraud examiner under the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Lieutenant Jewel W. Cameron, Orlando Field Office

Lt. Cameron was born in Palatka, Florida and raised in Miami, Florida. During her years residing in Miami, she attended Miami Dade Community College and received an Associate in Arts degree in Business Administration in 1988. After receiving her degree, she began working for a private company, Factual Business Information, who did criminal background checks for companies hiring new employees for two years. At which time, she continued her education at Florida International University and received her Bachelor’s of Science in criminal justice with a minor in public administration in 1994, while employed with the North Miami Police Department in the records division.

In March of 1996, Lt. Cameron was hired by the Miami Dade Public Schools Police Department as a school resource officer and entered into the police academy where she obtained her State of Florida law enforcement certification. Lt. Cameron continued her employment with the Miami-Dade Public Schools Police Department for five years. In February of 200l, Lt. Cameron was hired by the Division of Insurance Fraud as an investigator in the Miami Field Office and learned all aspects of insurance fraud including premium fraud by insurance agents, workers’ compensation, and PIP fraud. In September of 2006, she received an award from NICB for her outstanding accomplishments investigating PIP cases.

In November of 2006, Lt. Cameron moved to Rockledge, Florida and began working in the Orlando Field Office on the general fraud squad, and was promoted to her current position as a lieutenant in October of 2008 directing the activities of the detectives on the PIP squad. In 2009, Lt. Cameron continued her career development by attending the command officers’ development course and received a certificate from the Southern Police Institute, University of Louisville, KY. Also in 2009, Lt. Cameron obtained a certificate as a certified fraud examiner from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Lieutenant Paul Meyers, Orlando Field Office

In 2009, Lt. Meyers was hired by the Division of Insurance Fraud, as a detective, for the newly created major case squad in Tallahassee. In early 2010, Lt. Meyers was promoted to Lieutenant and remained in that squad. In 2011, Lt. Meyers transferred to the Orlando Field Office, where he currently serves.

Lt. Meyers is a past president of NACPI, the North American Consumer Protection Investigators Association and a past winner of the National Association of Credit Management’s Bronze Vigilance Award for his work in the fraud arena. Lt. Meyers and his squad received the Davis Productivity Award in 2011.

Lt. Meyers holds an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Florida Keys Community College and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Saint Leo University.

Lieutenant Ted Padich, West Palm Beach Field Office
Lt. Padich has been with the Division of Insurance Fraud since 1998. Prior to that he was a captain with the Boynton Beach Police Department and retired after 20 years. He is presently lieutenant of the general fraud squad in the West Palm Beach Field Office.

East Central Region Statistics
During the last fiscal year, the East Central Region received more than 3,600 referrals resulting in 317 cases opened, 227 presentations to prosecutors and 231 arrests.

East Central Region Case Highlights

 

Highlight #1
Dale Munroe II was arrested and charged with conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information.

DIF and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been involved in an investigation involving the unauthorized access of patients protected health information identifiers and the sale of the information to individuals who were involved with personal injury protection attorneys and chiropractic clinics.

The investigation revealed Munroe was an employee at the Florida Hospital, Celebration. Munroe worked in the emergency department as a registration representative where he would register patients as they came into the emergency department. Munroe began accessing patient records at an unusually high number and accessed approximately 763,000 patient records.

Analysis of the patient records accessed by Munroe revealed many of the patient records accessed had been involved in a motor vehicle accident. The investigation identified approximately 12,000 individuals whose records were accessed by Munroe and had possibly been involved in a motor vehicle accident. Those individuals would receive a telephone call within a couple of days to a week after their visit to the hospital. The caller offered them a lawyer or chiropractor referral and had been called on a telephone number which was provided to hospital personnel during registration. Two other individuals involved in the conspiracy, Katrina Munroe and Sergei Kusyakov, have also been arrested and both have pled guilty.

Highlight #2
Dr. Barbara Ann Turkell-White prepared and submitted insurance claims for a patient that did not receive treatment. During the dates that were billed, the patient either did not attend or was traveling out of state. The patient was able to produce documentation for dates proving she was out of state.

The patient identified an excessive amount of dates in which she did not receive treatment; however, Dr. Turkell invoiced and produced therapy notes for the above mentioned dates. The total amount billed was over $9 thousand of which State Farm paid over $3 thousand.

Dr. Turkell returned the money to State Farm Insurance, claiming it was a billing error; however, she was unable to produce anyone other than herself as being responsible for the billing. Dr. Turkell also indicated that she was the one who personally printed the claim form and typed the therapy notes that were sent to State Farm in support of the claim. Turkell was arrested by DIF detectives.