Getty Image
Former Major League Baseball shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt was arrested in Florida on charges of staging a car accident in an effort to commit insurance fraud.
Betancourt, who played nine years in the Major Leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, and Milwaukee Brewers, and three others were charged with staging an accident, insurance fraud, organized scheme to defraud, and grand theft on Monday.
According to a press release issued by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, “The four had a goal of reporting the accident to the automobile insurance company, Kemper Insurance, to exploit the personal injury and protection (PIP) benefits associated with the auto policy for financial gain.”
The crime was uncovered by the Division of Investigative and Forensic Services’ (DIFS) Miami Field Office using an accident reconstruction and data gathered from the vehicle Event Data Recorder, which revealed the accident never occurred even thought it had been reported to the police and Kemper Insurance.
After the accident report date, all four individuals purportedly sought treatment and physical therapy for injuries they never sustained regarding the accident. Kemper Insurance was billed over $61,000 from the two clinics and paid out over $22,800 for therapy billing of which none of the four individuals were entitled.
“It doesn’t matter how clever you think your scheme may be, if you commit fraud in Florida, you will be caught and brought to justice,” said Patronis. “Staging accidents is incredibly dangerous and fraud like this costs every Floridian in the form of higher auto insurance premiums. We must continue to work together to do everything we can to uncover these fraud schemes and bring these scam artists to justice.”
Yuniesky Betancourt and three other individuals who were arrested were booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Center in Miami. They now each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Betancourt, who batted .261 with 80 home runs and 457 RBI in 1,156 games in Major League Baseball, reportedly earned almost $19 million during his career.