Miami man charged with posing as licensed insurance adjuster in Broward County

Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun-SentinelSouth Florida Sun Sentinel

A Miami man has been charged with two felony counts of acting as an unlicensed insurance adjuster in Broward County.

Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez, 38, is accused of securing public adjuster contracts to help two homeowners with their insurance claims despite the fact his license was suspended since 2013, according to arrest reports and a news release by the Department of Financial Services.

Gonzalez defrauded the two homeowners out of $34,424, the reports say, though fraud or theft were not among the charges filed against him. Gonzalez’s attorney said Friday that his client has since repaid the money.

Gonzalez turned himself in to the Broward County Jail on Tuesday and was arrested on charges filed July 26 stemming from complaints filed with the department’s Criminal Investigations Division late last year.

According to the documents, Gonzalez presented himself as a public adjuster and owner of Maximum Claims Recovery Inc. to two homeowners in May and June of 2022 and signed contracts to help them recover insurance settlements to cover damages to their homes. In exchange for his services, the homeowners agreed to pay Gonzalez 20% of the settlement amounts.

In one of the cases, Gonzalez sent the Pembroke Pines homeowner a check for $16,425 — 80% of a settlement issued by the insurer — but it was returned for insufficient funds, according to one of the charging affidavits.

Gonzalez sent the other homeowner, in Davie, a check for $14,400, but it too was returned for insufficient funds, the other charging affidavit shows.

Gonzalez’s license as an all-lines public adjuster was suspended in April 2013 for failure to maintain a surety bond, according to the news release and charging affidavits.

A man identifying himself as Gonzalez’s attorney, Juan DeJesus Gonzalez, responded to a text message sent to Giorgio Gonzalez seeking comment for this article by saying that Giorgio Gonzalez was not charged with grand theft because he had returned the $34,424 to his customers.

In June 2023, Gonzalez was arrested by the Bureau of Insurance Fraud on a similar charge of unlicensed adjusting. In that case, he was also charged with grand theft. Prosecutors dropped the charges after he completed a pretrial diversion program, Miami-Dade court records show.

Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, was quoted in the news release praising the investigators.

He also said, “When unlicensed public adjusters take advantage of the system, every policyholder in the state loses. Insurance fraud drives up rates and devalues the professionalism of honest public adjusters and insurance agents.”

Following his arrest in Broward County on Tuesday, Gonzalez’s bond was set at $2,500. Jail records on Friday showed that he was no longer detained.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.