Leesburg woman charged with insurance fraud after allegedly using old car damage photo

A Leesburg woman was arrested for insurance fraud when she used photos of her vehicle from a prior fraudulent case for over $2,400 in repairs.

On Feb. 1, 52-year-old Rhonda Michelle Gilbert called Dairyland Insurance to file a claim for damage to her vehicle, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. The vehicle she was calling about was her black 2014 Ford Taurus, but she did not know her policy number. She gave an address of 1107 Johnson Street, Apartment A in Leesburg, and her phone number, the affidavit said. 

Gilbert stated she was sitting at the exit of Walgreen’s parking lot waiting to turn onto Dixie highway in Leesburg. Traffic on Dixie highway was stopped, and a vehicle stopped on the highway to let her out. When she began to get onto the highway, another vehicle was coming up fast behind her in the Walgreen’s parking lot and did not appear to be aware that she was stopping, the affidavit said. 

Gilbert became distracted by this vehicle, which caused her foot to slip off the brake pedal and onto the gas pedal. As a result, the front of her vehicle struck the back of the vehicle in front of her on Dixie Highway. She and the driver exited their respective vehicles and checked for damages, the affidavit said. 

The driver of the vehicle she hit told her there was no damage to his vehicle, and he got back into it and drove away. However, her front bumper was “knocked off” and had to be taped up to get it home. There were no injuries, and the police were not called to complete a report, the affidavit said. 

When asked about any prior damage, Gilbert admitted there was some to the bottom of her bumper from hitting a pole and that she had filed a previous claim for that. She also stated it had not been repaired because she did not have time to take it to the shop, the affidavit said. 

On Feb. 2, Gilbert sent photos of her vehicle to Dairyland Insurance. They were compared to the photos she provided regarding the previous claim in which she was charged with insurance fraud. The photos from this case show the same damage as the ones she submitted for the previous case, the affidavit said. 

An investigation by the Department of Financial Services, Division of Investigative & Forensic Services, Bureau of Insurance Fraud, found that Gilbert tried to have the pre-existing damage repaired at a cost of $2,451.04 with her fraudulent claims. As a result, a warrant was issued for her arrest, the report said. 

Gilbert was subsequently taken in by the Leesburg Police Department on Monday, July 8. She was charged with false fraudulent insurance claim and grand theft (more than $300 less than $5k). She was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $4,000 bond.