Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announces arrest, sentencing of Miami Public Adjuster
Mar 1, 2011
The Office of Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater issued the news release below today, March 1, 2011, on the arrest and sentencing of a Miami public adjuster accused of stealing $360,000 from 82 clients.
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TALLAHASSEE-As part of his commitment to crackdown on insurance fraud, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater announced the arrest and sentencing today of a former public adjuster, Abraham M. Blumberg of Miami, on one charge of first-degree organized scheme to defraud for pocketing more than $360,000 in funds from 82 clients and using the money to pay personal debts.
Upon his arrest, Blumberg, 35, was taken directly to Miami-Dade Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to the charge. Judge Darrin Gayles handed down the sentence of 364 days in Miami-Dade County Jail and 30 years probation with the first two years to be on community control. Judge Gayles also ordered full restitution and $10,000 in costs to be paid to the Department of Financial Services and $5,000 in costs to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. Conditions of the jail sentence, to begin in one year, and the probation will be modified if Blumberg repays the remainder of the restitution ahead of schedule.
“Insurance fraud has a direct impact on the pocketbooks of hardworking Floridians,” said CFO Atwater. “I am committed to exposing and deterring these crimes and those who commit them, and keeping money in Floridians’ pockets where it belongs.”
The investigation was led by the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud with assistance from the Division of Agent and Agency Services’ Bureau of Investigation and the Division of State Fire Marshal’s Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office filed the charge.
Detectives determined that from May 2009 through June 2010 Blumberg, as CEO and primary adjuster for National Loss Consultants, LLC, located at 633 NE 167th St. in North Miami Beach, took $363,617 in clients’ funds that were to be held in trust and instead used them to cover internal thefts from the business and illegal gambling and drug debts for employees and a family member. Detectives obtained statements from 82 victims and analyzed insurance claim files and records from a series of bank accounts before presenting their findings.
The Department of Financial Services revoked Blumberg’s public adjuster’s license on Nov. 3, 2010.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of fraud, call toll-free 1-800-378-0445 or visit www.MyFloridaCFO.com and click on “Report Fraud.”
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