Greater than two years in the past, Florida’s Chief Monetary Officer issued a press launch asserting the arrest of a Lee County contractor, Ricky McGraw, accusing him of orchestrating a $214,000 insurance coverage fraud scheme. The language was decisive and condemning. The message was clear and just like what number of within the insurance coverage business attempt to body the insurance coverage restoration business. One other unhealthy actor contractor had been caught. The press launch traveled far and large, reinforcing a well-recognized narrative that contractors and people concerned in property insurance coverage claims are a breeding floor for fraud. 1
Final week, with no press convention, no public announcement, and no accompanying clarification, the State Lawyer quietly filed a Discover of Nolle Prosequi. 2 The felony expenses have been dropped. The case ended not with a verdict, not with a jury weighing proof, and never with a decide ruling on the deserves, however with silence.
That distinction ought to bother anybody who cares concerning the rule of regulation.
A felony cost is just not a footnote in an individual’s life. It’s a reputational occasion. It impacts livelihoods, households, companies, and standing in the neighborhood. When expenses are filed, significantly in a extremely politicized enviornment like insurance coverage fraud, the harm is quick and lasting. When these expenses are deserted years later, the hurt doesn’t rewind itself. Everyone seems to be entitled to a presumption of innocence, though the preliminary press launch appeared something however that.
Prosecutors are entrusted with monumental energy, and with that energy comes a duty to convey instances that may be supported by proof and sustained via trial. When a case collapses after years of litigation with out clarification, it raises reliable questions on how the choice to cost was made within the first place.
Insurance coverage fraud is actual. It needs to be prosecuted when it may be confirmed. However the phrase “insurance coverage fraud” has additionally change into a handy slogan, used to justify aggressive enforcement actions and sweeping public statements lengthy earlier than any information are examined in a courtroom. Allegations are straightforward to make. Proof is tougher. The justice system is meant to separate the 2.
I beforehand wrote that Ricky McGraw would change into a footnote in Florida insurance coverage regulation by some means in Ricky McGraw Is Going to Be a Footnote within the Historical past of Florida Insurance coverage Legislation—One Method or the Different. Historical past has now written one footnote. It’s an uncomfortable one. Loud accusations adopted by quiet dismissals undermine public confidence within the system. In addition they feed cynicism amongst insurance coverage contractors, policyholders, public adjusters, and members of the American Policyholders Affiliation (APA) who already really feel that enforcement is uneven. I shall be talking on behalf of the APA on this subject on the Storm Restoration Contractor Summit on February 11 on the Irving Conference Middle.
Restoration contractors within the insurance coverage house are sometimes called being in a den of thieves by insurance coverage protection counsel and different property claims professionals. It’s a theme usually pushed extra by narrative than factual numbers. I can perceive why insurance coverage firm property adjusters and their counsel need to be involved about fraud and will concentrate on apparent patterns of fraud. Nevertheless it’s arduous for me to simply accept the narrative that the insurance coverage product has made the overwhelming majority of in any other case harmless folks into crooks.
Public officers ought to train extra restraint earlier than declaring guilt in press releases. Justice is just not served by headlines alone. It’s served by proof, course of, and accountability.
Thought For The Day
“The ability to accuse is the ability to destroy.”
— Edward Coke
1 “CFO Patronis Publicizes Arrest of Lee County Contractor in $214,000 Fraud Scheme,” Florida CFO Press Launch, Dec. 4, 2023. (out there on-line at https://myfloridacfo.com/information/e-newsletter/past-issues/news-details/2023/12/04/cfo-patronis-announces-arrest-of-lee-county-contractor-in–214-000-fraud-scheme)
2 State v. McGraw, No. 23-CF-000937 (Fla. Cir. Ct. – Lee County Jan. 26, 2026).