CFO Jimmy Patronis Announces Arrest of Miami Insurance Agent in $22,000 Fraud Scheme

Jimmy Patronis Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, November 4, 2021

MIAMI – Today, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced the arrest of David Abraham Jauregui for insurance fraud and organized fraud. Jauregui was allegedly involved in a fraud scheme to obtain home renters insurance and then filed fraudulent insurance claims on alleged lost or stolen property. In addition, Jauregui’s accomplice, Ronald Quintanilla, was also arrested.

CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “Fighting fraud and holding criminals accountable is one of my top priorities. It is extremely disappointing when the mastermind of this scheme is a Florida-licensed insurance agent who took advantage of his position to defraud others. I applaud the hard work of my fraud detectives to uncover this elaborate scam and make sure this alleged criminal is brought to justice and held accountable.”

An investigation conducted by CFO Patronis’ Division of Investigative and Forensic Services (DIFS) revealed Jauregui recruited Ronald Quintanilla to obtain home renters insurance through the Assurant Group for the purpose of adding a diamond ring to the insurance policy and then reporting the diamond ring loss or stolen. Jauregui used photos of his wife's diamond ring and provided two separate fake jewelry appraisal documents which were used for the policies and claim process. In August 2018, Quintanilla filed a loss claim on the diamond ring using Jauregui's diamond ring photos and a fake appraisal document for the claim process. In December 2018, Jauregui had another fraudulent claim filed regarding the ring, but the Assurant Group discovered the two insurance claims contained similar photos, facts of loss and identical language describing the ring in the appraisal documents. Detectives were able to verify the jewelry appraisal documents were fake, and that no such appraisals took place. Through additional investigative steps, it was also learned the diamond ring belonged to Jauregui's wife and that Jauregui allegedly developed the scheme to defraud the Assurant Group out of more than $22,000 for not promoting him.

David Abraham Jauregui was arrested and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He is charged with grand theft, faking insurance supporting documents, organized fraud, insurance conspiracy, and insurance fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. Once formal charges are filed, CFO Patronis’ Division of Insurance Agent & Agency Services will suspend Jauregui’s insurance license.

News article: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/sitePages/newsroom/pressRelease.aspx?id=6024