Hurricane Ian still exposing fraud
An unlicensed Naples contractor pleads guilty to defrauding an elderly woman out of $1.2 million following Hurricane Ian, a Broward public adjuster is arrested for stealing $600,000 from Hurricane Ian victims and spending it at local casinos, and a Sunny Isles Beach man stages a car theft and wreck for an insurance payout gone bad. It’s all in this week’s Fraud News.
Luis Emilio Hernandez
The Shyster: Luis Emilio Hernandez, an unlicensed Naples contractor, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering on March 30, and now awaits sentencing. The unnamed victim, and her now deceased husband, suffered damage to their home from Hurricane Ian in September of 2022. Over the following years, Hernandez, age 45, would trick the couple into providing large payments via check to make repairs on the house and purchase the necessary materials – but $1.2 million later, with cashed checks and money laundered through vehicle purchases and trade-ins, Hernandez hadn’t purchased a thing, pulled a single permit, or made any repairs. This went on long after the victim’s husband passed, she sold the home, and moved into assisted living, with Hernandez making frequent visits to further defraud the victim. In all, she wrote him 35 checks. Hernandez’s plea deal came after a barrage of lawsuits from other homeowners, who won separate settlements in Collier Circuit Court, with five judgements filed against him last year alone. Hernandez, who was also regularly fined for unlicensed landscaping work, must now pay back $1.26 million to the victim, including any assets traceable to her payments.
Francisco Chaparro-Araus
The Gambler: In another case of South Florida fraud, a Broward County public adjuster faces a litany of charges for allegedly stealing over $600,000 from 10 victims of Hurricane Ian, much of which he spent at local casinos. Francisco Chaparro-Araus, 46, was arrested in late March following an investigation by the Florida Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division. They say Chaparro-Araus solicited homeowners who experienced property damage from Hurricane Ian, allowing him to negotiate settlements of their insurance claims and collect 10% of what was recovered. Records show that the claims were indeed resolved and checks were issued, but Chaparro-Araus withheld $611,473.39 from the victims, and used up the money with transfers, electronic payments, and large cash withdrawals at the Seminole Hard Rock and Calder Casinos. He faces multiple charges including organized fraud, grand theft, financial exploitation of an elderly person, and diversion or misappropriation of insurance premiums. He was previously arrested in July 2024 for very similar crimes.
Jerry Dietress and Hector Cordderero
And the Fools: Another scheme was recently foiled in Sunny Isles Beach stemming from an incident in late February, where a vehicle was reported stolen from a gas station and found wrecked in a nearby parking lot just minutes later. After a very brief investigation, police say it turns out the owner of the vehicle staged the theft and wreck with a friend, and then tried to get an insurance payout on the vehicle, which was quickly debunked by authorities. The comically ill-conceived plan was the brainchild of the Mercedes owner, Jerry Dietress, who was undone by countless surveillance cameras capturing the play-by-play of the crime, including Dietress and accomplice Hector Cordderero hanging out in a parking garage minutes before the “theft,” and Cordderero crashing the car into a pole almost in slow motion, before putting the vehicle in reverse, and ramming into the pole again. Investigators flagged the report almost immediately after reviewing the footage, and say the motive was underlying mechanical issues with the car, with Dietress hoping to cash out with his insurance claim, rather than deal with expensive repairs. Instead, he now faces charges of filing a false police report and insurance fraud. In a world where staged auto incidents cost insurers and other policyholders almost $20 billion each year, it’s refreshing to see the bad actors get stopped right in their tracks by airtight police work.
LMA Newsletter of 4-13-26
