SunSentinal.com
by Julie Patel
March 10, 2011
State insurance fraud investigators arrested a public insurance adjuster Wednesday in connection with an allegedly fraudulent claim on behalf of a golf course in Miami.
Erasmo Zorilla was hired by the owners of Country Club of Miami to reopen a Hurricane Wilma claim. He told North Pointe Casualty Insurance, the club’s insurer, that the tiles on the club’s roofs are not available anymore so the roofs would have to be replaced at a cost of $2.4 million.
But investigators said the folks for the tile distributor said no one had ever shown them a sample from that location and the original supplier said the tiles are readily available. “Zorilla stated he conducted his inspection by standing outside of his car and looking up at some of the buildings and seeing some tile damage,” Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater’s office wrote in a statement Thursday.
Brian Macomber, an owner of Five Star Public Adjusting, where Zorilla is a contractor, declined to comment on the specifics of Zorilla’s case but said he’s confident the charges will be dismissed.
He added the arrest, made as the state’s legislative session kicks off, may be used to encourage support for legislation restricting public adjusters, who are hired by policyholders in claims disputes with insurers. “Public adjusters have been painted with a criminal brush and accused of fraud. The past few anti-consumer bills are going to devastate policyholders,” he said. On Friday, Macomber said Five Star has suspended Zorilla and “fully supports the efforts of Mr. Atwater to root out any fraudulent or unethical activity that may exist in the adjusting industry.”
Atwater said the arrest is “yet another example of the unscrupulous insurance fraud schemes pulling money out of the pockets of Floridians and reputable businesses.”
Zorilla, who surrendered to state detectives, is charged with grand theft in the first degree and insurance fraud in the first degree, and is being held at the Dade County Jail on $20,000 bail, according to Atwater’s office.
Earlier this month, Atwater’s office announced that a public adjuster in North Miami Beach plead guilty to first-degree fraud for pocketing more than $360,000 from 82 clients and using the money to pay personal debts.
Consumers can report suspected insurance fraud at www.MyFloridaCFO.com or 800-378-0445.
