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Tampa Couple Charged In Wreck Fraud Scheme

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 8, 2008

Updated: 10/08/2008 02:55 pm

  Rafael Almaguer

  Maria Cabrera

TAMPA - State investigators accused a husband and wife of trying to stage a traffic wreck for insurance money.

The Department of Financial Services' Division of Insurance Fraud on Tuesday arrested Rafael Hidalgo Almaguer, 40, and Maria Cabrera, 50, of Tampa, after a series of undercover meetings with the couple, an agency spokeswoman said.

Both are charged with felony insurance fraud, punishable by a minimum of two years in prison, agency spokeswoman Nina Banister said.

Almaguer and Cabrera are accused of offering to pay $4,100 to a confidential source and two undercover detectives in exchange for staging a wreck for insurance money, Banister said.

The couple told the source and the detectives that they would refer them to a clinic after the wreck where they could fill out paperwork for the phony insurance claim, Banister said.

Banister did not give further details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Almaguer and Cabrera were released from a Hillsborough County jail after posting $7,500 and $15,000 bail, respectively, jail records show.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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