Jacksonville Man Withdraws City Council Candidacy Following Insurance Fraud Arrest

October 16, 2013

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater recently announced the arrest of former Jacksonville city council candidate Orlando Robles-Santana for insurance fraud. Robles-Santana has been charged with filing false insurance claims and, if convicted, faces up to five years in prison.

According to the police investigation, Robles-Santana reported that his 2004 Jaguar sedan had been stolen during an alleged carjacking. He then filed an insurance claim for reimbursement of the car’s full value.

Almost a year after the supposed theft, police officers found the car while inspecting a local salvage yard. The salvage yard owner told officers that Robles-Santana had asked him to watch over his car while he was “out of the country.”

Earlier in September, Robles-Santana filed to run for the Jacksonville City Council at Large Group 1 seat. He has since withdrawn his candidacy. In his withdrawal letter to the Supervisor of Elections, he writes:

“My moral commitment, my identity as a human being and my values would not allow me to continue, at this time, running for City Council.”

CFO Jeff Atwater has publicly decried the actions of Robles-Santana. In his news release of the arrest, Atwater writes: “We will not stand by and let individuals like this steal the hard-earned money of honest Floridians.”

Reports from the Florida Department of Financial Services estimate that insurance fraud costs the United States $80 billion dollars or more a year. These costs ultimately force insurance carriers to increase their rates, thereby shifting the financial burden onto their insureds.