Bernita Willette Carswell of Jacksonville pleaded guilty to one count of disaster assistance fraud. Carswell claimed her primary residence was damaged during Hurricane Irma, causing her to stay in a nearby rental property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency paid Carswell $15,024.80 in rental assistance, although she never actually left her home. She faces up to 30 years in prison, as well as paying restitution.
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Filed under Fraud, Property (Homeowners)
Bernita Willette Carswell of Jacksonville and Deannajo White of Suwannee County have been charged lying about damage from Hurricane Irma to receive disaster assistance in separate cases. Both women are accused of falsifying records when applying to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for aid. The women could serve up to 30 years each in federal prison.
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Filed under Fraud, Hurricanes
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis announced the arrest of Darrell Perry, a Jacksonville elementary school principal for allegedly trying to submit altered insurance claims and false invoices for over $16,000 in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Investigators found Perry submitted fraudulent and fabricated repair invoices requesting reimbursement from State Farm due to alleged damages from Hurricane Irma. Perry has turned himself in and now faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
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Filed under Fraud, Property (Homeowners)
We hope you withstood the wrath of Hurricane Irma with the least amount of damage to your home and surroundings. We want to keep you advised of the status of the litigation you have entrusted to us here at ROIG Lawyers. On September 19th, the Florida Supreme Court issued an administrative order extending all time limits through close of business on Monday, September 18th, 2017. This includes any deadline allowed by rule of procedure, court order, statutes applicable to court proceedings, or otherwise pertaining to court proceedings.
The Court further recognized in its order that there may be instances where, because of this emergency, these and other time limits applicable to matters in or outside Miami-Dade County could not be met even upon application of the periods stated above. If such a claim is made, the Court in which jurisdiction vested is directed to resolve the issue on a case-by-case basis when a party demonstrates that the lack of compliance with requisite time periods was directly attributable to this emergency.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this issue in greater detail, please feel free to contact us by emailing marketing@roiglawyers.com.php73-37.phx1-1.websitetestlink.com or call us at 1-855-ROIGLAW.
Filed under Uncategorized
Our thoughts continue to be with all those affected by Hurricane Irma. We recognize many of you will face challenges in the days and weeks ahead. In staying true to our values of loyalty and teamwork, we want to let you know that ROIG Lawyers is here to help.
With the upcoming influx of property and insurance claims to be filed, top-of-mind awareness among claim handling professionals is key in identifying fraudulent and inflated hurricane claims.
We have a close-knit group of statewide First Party Property attorneys dedicated to providing quality and proactive legal services to our clients in the area of property defense. We utilize a proactive approach in which we litigate to property claims and moreover, if the need arises, we have experienced trial attorneys on our team ready to take files through trial.
We are also available to provide complimentary in-house CE courses to our clients and colleagues as a value-added service. We do this to ensure that our clients and prospective clients are making informed decisions based on the most up to date and relevant information. These are a few of the courses that may be of most interest to you and your team.
If you have any questions, concerns, or to schedule a complimentary CE course, please contact the Marketing Department of ROIG Lawyers at marketing@roiglawyers.com.php73-37.phx1-1.websitetestlink.com.
ROIG Lawyers will continue to stand with you and as always, we thank you for standing by us.
ROIG Lawyers is a minority-owned litigation firm with a primary focus on Insurance Defense Litigation. We serve as primary counsel for numerous national and regional carriers and corporations related to all aspects of insurance litigation from seven offices throughout the state of Florida. ROIG Lawyers does not intend to create an attorney-client relationship by offering this information, and anyone’s review of the information shall not be deemed to create such a relationship. E-mail list/s from ROIG Lawyers are intended to provide information of general interest to the public and are not intended to offer legal advice about specific situations or problems. You should consult a lawyer with regard to specific legal issues that require attention.
Filed under Property (Homeowners)
