Republic Western Insurance Investigator Tabbed as Fla. Investigator of the Year

Republic Western Insurance Company (RepWest), a subsidiary of AMERCO, announced that Robert Longo, investigator for the company’s Special Investigative Unit (SIU), Georgia Field Claims Office, has been named the 2004/2005 “Investigator of the
Year” by the Florida Insurance Fraud Education Committee at their annual anti-fraud insurance seminar held June 14-16 in Orlando, Fla.

Longo was chosen from a select group of nominees who have demonstrated exceptional investigative abilities and whose efforts have made a significant impact on furthering Florida’s fraud-interdiction efforts.

Criteria for the award included:

– Impact investigation made in the fight against insurance fraud.
– Positive effect investigation had on the insurance industry and the
community.
– Uniqueness of the investigation.
– Exceptional qualities of the investigator.
– Recognition received from nominee’s peers.

For the past year, Longo has been the lead investigator on three suspected staged-accident rings. One was a large-scale staged-accident ring dubbed “The Miami 19” because of its geographic location and number of individual claim files associated with it.

Longo identified the scam and, working with the Florida Division of Financial Services, National Insurance Crime Bureau and Delta Investigative Services, identified the ringleader of the scam, numerous individuals who participated in the staged losses, several crooked medical providers who submitted billing and treatment records for services that were never rendered, and unscrupulous attorneys who used these bogus bills to submit false bodily-injury claims.

As a result of Longo’s efforts, 39 individuals were arrested and charged
with various criminal counts under the Florida insurance-fraud statute.