NORTH REGION

The North Region is comprised of three field offices and one resident agent office. The region is the largest geographic area within the Division, covering 38 counties across northern part of Florida. A total of four squads, located in Jacksonville, Ocala, Tallahassee and Pensacola, cover this expansive region. Each of the squads investigates a wide varied of crimes that comprise insurance fraud.  The Jacksonville Field Office handles cases in Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton, Nassau, St. Johns, Suwannee, and Union counties.  The Ocala resident agent office handles cases located in the counties of Dixie, Marion, Citrus, Putnam, Flagler, Alachua, Gilchrist, and Levy.  The Tallahassee Field Office covers the following nine counties: Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla. The Pensacola Field Office anchors the northwest section of Florida and handles cases in Gulf, Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington counties.

North Region Commander

Captain Donald Taylor

Captain Taylor is a graduate of the University of Florida holding a Master's degree in Accounting along with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Valdosta State University.  He is a Certified Fraud Examiner and member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Captain Taylor joined the Division as the Jacksonville Field Office supervisor in 1997.  He has been the Jacksonville Field Office lieutenant for over ten years.  Prior to joining the Division he worked as a Special Agent for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and as a Community Oriented Police Officer/Patrol Officer with the for the Gainesville Police Department. 

Captain Taylor is located in the Division’s Jacksonville Office and can be reached at 921 N. Davis Street, Building B, Suite 149, Jacksonville, Florida 32209. Telephone: (904) 798-5802. E-mail: Donald.Taylor@MyFloridaCFO.com

Office Supervisors

Lieutenant Lovel “Buddy” Hand
(Pensacola)

Lieutenant Buddy Hand currently supervises the Pensacola Field Office.  He has an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Pensacola Junior College and is currently working towards his Bachelors Degree from the University of West Florida.

Lieutenant Hand came to the Division of Insurance Fraud on January 3, 1994, from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office where he distinguished himself as a major crimes investigator.  Since his initial employment with the Division, he has been assigned to the Pensacola Field Office, and served as Lead Detective for his squad since April 2000.  As a detective, Lt. Hand specialized in significant case investigations and co-founded the Northwest Florida Medical Fraud Task Force.  This task force has been a national forerunner in the prosecution of healthcare professionals involved in the abuse of Oxycontin and other highly addictive prescription drugs. In 2005, Lieutenant Hand was awarded “Officer of the Year” by the Florida Insurance Fraud Education Committee. Also in 2005, he received the Florida Attorney General’s Certificate of Commendation for Meritorious Service and was nominated for the State Law Enforcement Chiefs Association's “Officer of the Year” award.  He has received numerous Davis Productivity Awards throughout his tenure at the Department.

Lieutenant Hand is located in the Division’s Pensacola Office and can be contacted at 610 East Burgess Pensacola, Florida 32504. Telephone: (850) 453-7802. E-mail: Buddy.Hand@MyFloridaCFO.com

Lieutenant Porter currently supervises the Tallahassee Field Office.   Selaina Porter is a graduate of the University of West Florida and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.   She is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Lieutenant Porter came to the Division of Insurance Fraud in August 1988, and served for ten years as Lead Detective for the Tallahassee Field Office, Unauthorized Entities Section, and the Public Employee Fraud Unit.   She was previously employed with the Tallahassee Police Department, where she served on patrol for two years before being transferred to the Criminal Investigations Division, where she specialized in white collar crimes, Bunco crimes, and auto thefts.   While at TPD she was a founding member of the Nation Association of Bunco Investigators, and co-authored an article on short-change artists, which was published in Internal Auditing.

 Lieutenant Porter is located in the Division’s Tallahassee Field Office and can be contacted at 200 E. Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL  32399-0324.  Telephone: (850) 413-4011.  E-mail: Selaina.Porter@MyFloridaCFO.com

Lieutenant Brian McCoy supervises the Jacksonville field office and the Ocala Resident Agent Office. Brian McCoy is a graduate of Nova University holding a Masters Degree in Public Administration/Criminal Justice along with a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration/Criminal Justice from Saint Thomas University.

Lieutenant McCoy joined the Division as an investigator on November 10, 2003 and he has been investigating healthcare provider fraud. He was promoted to Lieutenant on July 29, 2008.  Prior to joining the Division he worked as the Coordinator of Public Safety Programs for the Institute of Public Safety at Broward community College. He spent 5 years with Motorola as a Security Manager and 25 years with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department where he retired as a Detective Sergeant. During his time with Fort Lauderdale he was a Sergeant with the Metropolitan Intelligence Unit (MIU), a multi agency Task force investigating organized criminal organizations where he supervised the Strategic Intelligence Unit and Analytical Function. He Supervised a 30 man SWAT Team, with responsibilities for budgeting, training and full SWAT operations. He also served as Chairman of the Florida Intelligence Unit. He is a Florida State Certified Instructor and taught as an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University for 5 years.

Lieutenant McCoy is located in the Division’s Jacksonville Office and can be reached at 921 N. Davis Street, Building B, Suite 149, Jacksonville, Florida 32209. Telephone: (904) 798-4872. E-mail: Brian.McCoy@MyFloridaCFO.com

Regional Accomplishments

The North Region was recognized by the Florida Tax Watch/Prudential Davis Productivity Award for their accomplishments this past year.  This is certainly a wonderful accomplishment to have all of the North Region’s Field Offices recognized at the same time for the fine service they provide to the citizens of this State

Pensacola and Tallahassee Field Offices both received Certificates of Commendation.
Jacksonville Field Office received the Notable Cash Award - $500

Statistics

The Jacksonville and Ocala squads consists of ten sworn detectives, and an administrative secretary.  The squads received 793 referrals during 2006/2007 fiscal year, opening 97 new cases.   During this same period of time the squads made 60 arrests and had 60 convictions.  The squads carry an average combined active caseload of approximately 170 cases.  During the 2006/2007 fiscal year the offices requested the courts award over $8,000,000.00 in restitution to the victims involved in their cases.

The Pensacola Office currently consists of seven  sworn detectives, and  an administrative secretary.  The squad received 488 referrals during the 2006/2007 fiscal year, opening 94 new cases.  During this same period of time the squads made 42 arrests and had 29 convictions. The squad carried an average combined active caseload of approximately 61 cases.  During the 2006/2007 fiscal year the courts awarded over $1,000,000.00 in restitution to identified victims.

The Tallahassee Office currently consists of five (5) sworn detectives, a criminal intelligence analyst and an administrative secretary.  This squad received 99 referrals during the 2006/2007 fiscal year, opening 43 new cases.  During this same period of time, this squad made 28 arrests and had 19 convictions.  The squad carried an average combined active caseload of approximately 34 cases.  During the 2006/2007 fiscal year, this office requested that the courts award over $2,000,000.00 in restitution to the victims involved in their cases.

Case Highlights

The Region was involved in a wide range of criminal investigations throughout the year. Three areas of concern (Medical Fraud, Identity Fraud and Unauthorized Entity Fraud) occupied the Region throughout the year:

Medical Fraud

When most of us think about the illegal drug trade the picture of licensed doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers participating in this illegal activity usually doesn’t come to mind. The Northwest Florida Healthcare Taskforce (DIF,FBI,FDLE,AHCA,DCIS, and United States Attorney’s Office ) has seen how these rouge “professionals” have killed and ruined the life of countless people.  

Ø       Doctor Thomas Merrill became the latest doctor to be sentenced to life in prison after the taskforce charged him with causing six deaths related to the “pill mill” he was running in the Panama City – Apalachicola area. On July 10, 2006, Merrill was sentenced by Federal Judge Casey Rogers to six life sentences. He was also fined $9,800.00 and ordered to pay $115, 017.01 in restitution to BCBS, Medicaid, and Tricare.  

Identity Fraud

This crime is becoming more rampant throughout the nation and state.  When someone's identity is stolen, the impact goes far beyond their immediate finances.

Ø Using various identities, Waylon Gregory obtained insurance policies from Progressive Auto Insurance, State Farm Insurance and GEICO Insurance. For each policy, Gregory would always obtain the maximum amount of coverage allowed by the insurance company. A short time after he obtained the policies, Gregory would intentionally crash the vehicles and file claims for payment of medical expenses, property damage, personal injury protection and uninsured motorist coverage. When the insurance proceeds were disbursed, Gregory would then keep the proceeds and spend the money at his leisure. In addition, Gregory would also file workers’ compensation claims and slip and fall injuries which were believed to be fraudulent.   From 2001 to present, Gregory has received insurance benefits in excess of $189,880.55.  Since 2001, Gregory had the potential and attempted to obtain insurance benefits in excess of $3,477,000.00.  On June 18, 2008, Waylon Gregory was convicted in the Northern District of Florida Federal Court. Gregory was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in Federal Prison for three (3) counts of mail fraud and two (2) counts of Aggravated Identity Theft. He was ordered to pay restitution to victims totaling almost $196,000.  Gregory was ordered to serve three (3) years probation at the end of his prison term.

Unauthorized Entities

When unauthorized entities set up shop in Florida lives are going to be ruined. Citizens and businesses struggle to pay health or workers compensation premiums then find themselves unable to collect benefits when they file a legitimate claim. The victims are left facing financial ruin due to staggering medical bills.

Ø       An investigation by the Division’s Jacksonville Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the United States Attorney’s Office determined that a non-licensed/non-existed insurance company named Regency Insurance of The West Indies failed to secure workers' compensation insurance for approximately thirteen (13) employee leasing companies, who employed over 33,000 employees throughout Florida and several other states.  Fourteen (14) people have been convicted in the insurance scam, which is believed to be the biggest ever in Florida, a 15th defendant is at large in England, and another died while under investigation.  The restitution ordered by the courts to the victims to date has been over $82,000,000.00.