Arson — Florida

Amount:$720,000

A Florida business owner has been charged with burning to defraud the insurer, and two counts of false and fraudulent insurance claims over $100,000. He allegedly closed his Express Lube and Auto Repair business early, secured all points of entry and left for the night. He was reportedly the only person who had access to the business, and when the fire department arrived the building was still secured. Investigators spoke with the fraudster at the scene, and he disclosed that his business was failing and he had consulted a bankruptcy attorney earlier the day of the fire. He stated that he owed the IRS an undisclosed amount of money. Records showed that earlier that year he tried to increase the amounts on his commercial insurance policy but that attempt failed. In his application to originally obtain commercial insurance, he failed to report that he had previously been convicted for fraud and auto insurance fraud, a combined net of $170,000. This omission allowed him to obtain the commercial policy which paid out $550,000 as a result of the fire. The fraudster has been arrested.