Jacksonville Man Withdraws City Council Candidacy Following Insurance Fraud Arrest

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater recently announced the arrest of former Jacksonville city council candidate Orlando Robles-Santana for insurance fraud. Robles-Santana has been charged with filing false insurance claims and, if convicted, faces up to five years in prison.

According to the police investigation, Robles-Santana reported that his 2004 Jaguar sedan had been stolen during an alleged carjacking. He then filed an insurance claim for reimbursement of the car’s full value.

Almost a year after the supposed theft, police officers found the car while inspecting a local salvage yard. The salvage yard owner told officers that Robles-Santana had asked him to watch over his car while he was “out of the country.”

Earlier in September, Robles-Santana filed to run for the Jacksonville City Council at Large Group 1 seat. He has since withdrawn his candidacy. In his withdrawal letter to the Supervisor of Elections, he writes:

“My moral commitment, my identity as a human being and my values would not allow me to continue, at this time, running for City Council.”

CFO Jeff Atwater has publicly decried the actions of Robles-Santana. In his news release of the arrest, Atwater writes: “We will not stand by and let individuals like this steal the hard-earned money of honest Floridians.”

Reports from the Florida Department of Financial Services estimate that insurance fraud costs the United States $80 billion dollars or more a year. These costs ultimately force insurance carriers to increase their rates, thereby shifting the financial burden onto their insureds.