A South Florida trucking company owner was arrested last month after allegedly selling fraudulent insurance coverage with certificates of insurance totaling nearly $60,000 to local commercial truckers, according to a statement from Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis.
Investigators from the Department of Financial Services allege Kemny Niebla, owner and operator of Andoba Trucking Co. and Sea Trucking in Hialeah, collected monthly insurance premium payments from three victims between October 2017 and June 2018.
Records indicated that Niebla had received $59,675 in premium payments from which were never applied towards any insurance policy as promised. DFS said Niebla instead kept the funds for his own self gain and as a result, the commercial vehicles were unknowingly being operated uninsured.
The fraud scheme was discovered when one of the commercial trucks was involved in an accident causing over $78,000 in uninsured damage.
Niebla was arrested without incident on Nov. 30, 2018 and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on several counts of grand theft, insurance funds diversion, uttering forged instruments, and organized scheme to defraud.
If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
“Pocketing insurance premiums for your own financial gain is despicable. It puts the victim in the dangerous position of going without proper insurance coverage, and puts unsuspecting drivers in a financially risky position,” Patronis said.
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services
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