Florida's Department of Financial Services recently released its top 10 list of the most expensive insurance fraud scams from July 1, 2005- June 30, 2006, investigated by the Division of Insurance Fraud. The 10 cases totaled almost $15 million in fraud and more than 740 arrests. Among the scams are the following two cases:

Sing it From the Rooftop: A Louisiana roofing contractor who came to Florida to profit from hurricane-damaged homes in Central Florida didn't do himself or his workers any favors. Todd Woods, owner of A-1 Construction, presented certificates of liability insurance to a local roofing contractor, the City of St. Cloud, and Osceola County, but when it was discovered the coverage was valid only in Louisiana, Woods leased five employees -- including himself -- through two employee leasing companies. However, during a local television interview Woods said he had brought several hundred workers to Florida. Woods was arrested for presenting false certificates of liability insurance (third-degree felony) and working without workers'' compensation insurance (second-degree felony), and was ordered to participate in the Pre-Trial Diversion Program and pay a $10,000 fine and investigative costs.

Double Rip-Off: A dozen individuals have pleaded guilty to purchasing the identities of unsuspecting customers at a Miami auto dealership and using the information to create driver licenses for imposters to present at area clinics for treatment of alleged injuries from auto crashes. The crashes occurred on paper only and the ringleader was paid cash by several personal injury clinics for "patients." The insurance companies quickly learned that there had been no real crashes involving their insureds and no payments were made. Ultimately the clinics were also being bamboozled since they would not have paid in advance for these imposters if they were not going to be able to collect from the insurance companies. In effect, the ring was only interested in pocketing the brokering fees for the imposter patients, knowing full well that follow-up visits could never occur, since the patients were imposters. A sales associate at the auto lot suspected to be the conduit for the stolen identities was arrested on unrelated charges of transacting insurance without a license and possession of cocaine. As a result of this investigation, 14 individuals have been arrested and 12 have pleaded guilty.