It seemed like a good gig. Yasser Vega-Martinez, 34, of Miramar,Fla. was making good money. In fact he pocketed more than $200,000in just seven months. The only problem he was contributing to anepidemic that's costing Florida drivers more than $800 million. Like many not-so-masterful masterminds behindstaged crashes, he's now paying the price.

Vega-Martinez was arrested for allegedly planning andorchestrating three staged auto accidents in a seven-month period.

“These staged accidents are at the heart of the PIP fraud epidemic that is casting a shadow over Florida's roads,”says Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jeff Atwater says. “Every Florida family is affected by thesefake crashes in the form of high auto insurance premiums. Myoffice is determined to work toward policy reforms to curb thiscostly crime.”

Vega-Martinez allegedly organized and staged three separateaccidents from November 2009 to June 2010. After the crashes,he referred non-injured participants to several clinics in theMiami-Dade area, including GMC Rehabilitation Center, AB DiagnosticCenter, The Osteomuscular Rehab Center Corp, Y & H Imaging,Grand Canal Rehab, Justin Medical Services, Florida HealthProfessionals Group Corp, Angels Diagnostic Group and C & CTherapy Center Corp. As a result, a total of more than $200,000 infraudulent insurance claims were submitted to Geico and State Farm insurance companies.

If convicted on all charges, Vega-Martinez faces up to 120 yearsin prison.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services