A Leesburg man has been charged with insurance fraud.
Michael Mason, 22, has been charged with filing a false and fraudulent insurance claim after an investigation by a detective from the Division of Investigative and Forensic Services for the State of Florida.
The detective determined that Mason was in a traffic crash Feb. 16 in Lady Lake. Mason was named in the accident report as the driver of a 2020 Nissan Sentra that was damaged in the crash. Mason’s insurance policy with Dairyland Insurance Co. was inactive due to non-payment at the time of the crash. The detective found that Mason reinstated his policy with Dairyland on Feb. 17 but did not disclose to the insurance company that he had been in an accident the day before the reinstatement.
Mason filed a claim on Feb. 18 with the insurance company over the phone claiming he had been in an accident the day before, after he had reinstated the policy.
The detective questioned Mason on Nov. 18 and when confronted with the information the detective had collected, Mason admitted to providing a false date to his insurance company for the purpose of financial gain.
The detective obtained an arrest warrant for Mason who was arrested Dec. 17 by Lake County deputies. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,000 bond.
