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A Florida public adjuster, already facing prosecution for similar alleged misappropriation in 2024, now stands accused of diverting more than $600,000 in insurance settlements for homeowners hit by Hurricane Ian.

Francisco Javier Chaparro-Araus, 46, of All Elements Public Adjusters in Miramar, was arrested this week and charged with fraud, grand theft and misappropriation of funds. He was booked into the Broward County jail after state investigators examined complaints from multiple policyholders.

“Although the settlement checks were deposited into a Bank of America business account which was solely controlled by the defendant, he unlawfully withheld and failed to remit a total of $611,473.39 in insurance settlement proceeds owed to ten separate policyholders,” reads the probable cause affidavit, on file in Broward County Circuit Court.

Investigators with the Florida Department of Financial Services found that Chapparo depleted the funds through online transfers, check cards, and “substantial cash withdrawals from the Seminole Hard Rock and Calder Casinos,” the affidavit reads.

DFS records show Chaparro, of Miramar, had his Florida public adjuster license suspended in 2015 and in 2024. His firm, All Elements Public Adjusting, is not licensed, records show. Florida Secretary of State corporation records show the firm was incorporated in 2017, by Chaparro, but failed to file annual reports after 2022.

The man also reportedly worked with another public adjuster firm that has been licensed since 2021. The owner of that firm said Wednesday that Chaparro had never worked for the firm.

Investigators said that after Hurricane Ian struck Florida in 2022, Chaparro solicited claims filing work from “vulnerable homeowners” who had sustained damage in the storm, and signed contracts with several, agreeing to accept no more than 10% of the insurance payment.

He was arrested in July 2024 on similar charges brought by DFS based on information provided by American Traditions Insurance Co. In that case, the carrier issued checks totaling $130,000, the 2024 arrest affidavit shows. Chaparro sent a check to the homeowner for $30,000 but it was returned by the bank for insufficient funds. Much of the insurance payment was apparently spent at the same casinos in 2023, investigators noted.

Chaparro posted bond on those charges. A trial in the 2024 case is set for June.

Chaparro could not be reached by phone or email Wednesday morning.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Hurricane