Florida Man Jailed In Staged Auto Crash Ring

Sept. 26--What deputies originally thought was a minor crash without injuries wound up costing a car-insurance company almost $20,000.

Acting on information from Allstate Insurance and the FBI, investigators soon unraveled a fraud scheme: A couple had staged the car crash in West Palm Beach while carrying out a ringleader's orders, according to the state Division of Insurance Fraud.

Ricardo Pargas, 49, of West Palm Beach, was arrested Wednesday after investigators said he and his wife were paid $2,000 each to participate in the crash. It was unclear whether Pargas' wife, who was not named in Pargas' arrest report, faces any charge in the case.

The organizer who paid them, Alien Moya, 30, of West Palm Beach, has since been federally charged with participating in a staged crash and fraudulent chiropractic clinic scheme, according to the FBI. He pleaded guilty to fraud in July 2013 as part of Operation Sledgehammer -- an FBI operation aimed at curbing staged-crash insurance fraud.

Pargas' recent arrest stems from a crash that happened on Jan. 11, 2010, on East Carol Circle near Haverhill Road.

Pargas was driving a 2005 Ford pickup about 9:20 p.m., when he stopped on East Carol and was intentionally rear-ended by a 1998 Chevrolet pickup, an arrest report said. Moya had recruited Pargas and his wife to get crashed into by the other vehicle, investigators said.

The day of the crash, a sheriff's deputy taking the report said there weren't any injuries and both drivers drove away. But two days later, Pargas was being treated for injuries from the crash at Karow Chiropractic Center in West Palm Beach.

The claims from the treatment at the center left the insurance company with a bill of $34,065 -- for which the company paid $19,386.25, according to the report.

Federal agents interviewed Pargas and his wife at their West Palm Beach home on April 12, 2012, and said Pargas told them he took part in a staged accident. He said he was recruited by Moya, whose cousin is married to Pargas' son.

After the crash, Moya had Pargas go to the chiropractic center, where he and his wife went twice a week, sometimes getting a massage, according to the report.

Investigators pieced their case together against Pargas, most recently interviewing him earlier this year.

On Wednesday, Pargas was booked into Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail on a staged accident fraud charge.

Operation Sledgehammer has resulted in 56 people being federally charged with fraud and more than $5 million in restitution being paid to insurance companies for the staged crashes, which happened between October 2006 and December 2012.

Karow Chiropractic Center's owner, Kenneth Karow, 54, of West Palm Beach, was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection to the staged crashes in April 2014, officials said.

Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report, [email protected], 561-243-6607 or Twitter and Instagram @adamsacasa

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