FAMILIES PREPARING FOR SCHOOL CAN SAVE MONEY ON NEEDED SUPPLIES

GALLAGHER ANNOUNCES ARRESTS OF TWO PUBLIC ADJUSTERS
IN $400,000 HURRICANE INSURANCE FRAUD CASE

MIAMI—Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer, announced today the arrests of two licensed public adjusters who fraudulently collected more than $400,000 from two insurance companies by submitting bogus contractor agreements. The arrests were made by detectives in the Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud.

“Insurance fraud leads to higher insurance premiums which hit every Floridian in the pocketbook,” said Gallagher, who oversees the department. “We will continue to follow every lead regarding possible fraudulent activity and send a strong message that such abuse of our citizens will not be tolerated.”

Jose Manuel Soler and Ariel L. Fernandez, of Coast to Coast Public Adjusters, allegedly submitted approximately 75 forged contractor agreements, resulting in an overpayment by Citizens Insurance of approximately $314,596.54. Detectives said an additional 29 such documents were submitted to the Tower Hill Group resulting in a loss of approximately $125,281.81.

Detectives said the forged contractor agreements were submitted in order to obtain an additional 20 percent of the estimated claim for overhead and profit. The fraudulent contractor agreements stemmed from real claims for water pipe damage. Following each storm in 2004 and 2005, Gallagher capped public adjusters fees that could be charged to storm victims and implemented a 14-day day period for victims to rescind public adjuster contracts without a penalty.

Both Soler and Fernandez surrendered on the charges Thursday and were incarcerated in the Miami-Dade County Jail. Each was charged with 104 counts of insurance fraud (third degree), 104 counts of grand theft (third degree) and one count of organized scheme to defraud (first degree) each. Bail was expected to be set at $1,050,000. Additional arrests are anticipated.

The Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud, investigates fraud in all types of insurance, including health, life, auto, property and workers’ compensation. To report information about this case or any other possible insurance fraud case, call the department’s Fraud Fighters hotline at 1-800-378-0445. A reward of up to $25,000 may be offered for information leading to a conviction.

‘FINAL EXAM’ FOR FLORIDA’S URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCES
Training has been funded by $32 million in Homeland Security funds

Most tests involve paper, a pencil and maybe a calculator, but this one involved concrete, steel and human resolve.

On July 20, members of the Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Forces from Tampa Bay, Central Florida, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Volusia County completed intensive structural collapse training at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. The "victims" and the scenario were props, but the work was all real, said Tom Gallagher, Florida’s state fire marshal.

“Florida has one of the most well-prepared response systems in the country,” said Gallagher, who oversees the Division of State Fire Marshal which provided the training. “We have ensured that all of our emergency responders get hands-on training so that they are as prepared as possible for any disaster here at home.”

The final exam had students cutting through poured concrete, concrete block and steel to rescue “victims” trapped in apartments and cars in a collapsed parking garage. The test wrapped up an 80-hour course that followed 264 hours of mechanical, trench, confined space and rope rescue training. Funding for the training and the facility comes from more than $32 million in U.S. homeland security funds that have been pumped into Florida and administered by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The US&R training center at the State Fire College provides specialized and live-fire training and is the only "post-blast" collapse simulator in the United States providing fire and smoke conditions.

Since September 11, 2001, the number of US&R task forces in Florida has grown from two to nine. Those task forces are located in the Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida areas, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Central Florida (Orlando, Orange County, Seminole County) North Central Florida (Marion County, Alachua County, Gainesville, Ocala) and Volusia. Two FEMA US&R task forces are located in the Miami area, and the nine task forces comprise the Florida Urban Search and Rescue System.

More than $1 million in homeland security funds have been spent to train and equip each of seven state task forces, including providing each with a tractor-trailer response truck stocked with tools and equipment to respond to a wide range of emergencies. In addition, local governments have been supported with some of the personnel costs incurred during training.

The two FEMA task forces in Florida responded following the terrorist attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon, and all nine provided critical assistance during the past two hurricane seasons both in Florida and Mississippi.

Homeland security funds have also helped establish and equip 50 technical rescue teams and supplement the 28 existing regional hazardous materials teams, as well as provide almost 300,000 hours of training to nearly 1,700 first responders serving on these teams.

“Because of the work of these men and women and their commitment to protect Florida’s citizens,” Gallagher said, “our state is better prepared and equipped to respond to any threat, protecting our families and making our communities safer.”

STATEWIDE LAW ENFORCEMENT RADIO SYSTEM FULLY IMPLEMENTED

The recent full implementation of the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS) gives more than 6,500 law enforcement officers the ability to communicate with their peers throughout the state using a central radio system. With this new system, officers from various state agencies are able to effectively communicate with one another on one system.

By providing a single system, Florida is able to provide law enforcement officers responding to an emergency with a more efficient means of communications and the ability to talk to one another in real time.

"In the event of a disaster, this new communications ability will save lives and property," said State Fire Marshal Gallagher. "As first responders in emergency situations, the coordination by radio among state agencies will make a qualitative difference."