Auto fraud ringleader lived large on $23M

Federal judge sentences him to 6 1⁄2 years in prison

As the flashy ringleader of a massive $23 million auto insurance fraud, Felix Filenger drove around in a Bentley, doled out kickbacks from a black briefcase stuffed with cash and lived in a $7,500-a-month oceanfront apartment.

Filenger didn’t know until much later on that FBI agents were tailing him around South Florida and listening in on his phone calls with other members of the corrupt group of chiropractors, attorneys, clinic owners and tow-truck drivers he led for seven years. Even after the FBI raided his business in 2015, putting him on notice that he was under scrutiny, federal prosecutors say Filenger kept running the fraud until he was eventually arrested in October.

And while Filenger was sporting a $64,000 rose gold Juan Pablo Montoya watch, some of

his cohorts had already flipped on him and were secretly recording their conversations with accomplices.

Thursday, Filenger was sentenced to 61/ years in federal prison — expected to be the heftiest punishment meted out in the case.

Filenger, 41, of Sunny Isles, has been locked up since he was arrested in October. He bowed his head and stayed silent Thursday in federal court in Miami while his defense attorney emphasized how contrite he is and how he’s trying to make amends.

“There appears to be remorse for your actions, although in this case, the remorse was after you were caught,” U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom told Filenger during the sentencing hearing.

Filenger, who emigrated from the former Soviet Union about 30 years ago and became a U.S. citizen, started up a crime ring that operated at several South Florida chiropractic clinics. In December, he pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy.

Some of the phone conversations recorded on FBI wiretaps included Filenger issuing orders and advising the members of the ring of clinic owners, chiropractors and attorneys that operated mostly in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, according to prosecutors Jeffrey Kaplan and Paul Schwartz.

The fraud raked in more than $23 million from 10 auto insurance companies between 2010 and earlier this year, investigators said. Filenger will have to pay restitution as part of his punishment, but the amount owed has not been finalized.

Filenger enjoyed “a somewhat lavish lifestyle” while he was running the elaborate criminal enterprise, prosecutors said. That included renting the oceanfront property, buying expensive jewelry and investing in a North Miami bagel store, which investigators suspected he was using to conceal the source of at least some of his illegal earnings.

The judge remarked that court officials reported back to her that Filenger’s “true net worth was difficult to ascertain” as the information he provided was lacking, making it hard to make an accurate assessment.

Filenger owned and drove a number of Bentleys, at least one of which he told witnesses was held in his mother’s name but really belonged to him. He also bought expensive jewelry for himself and his wife, as well as more than $80,000 worth of designer bags, and appeared to have transferred money to relatives, trusts and an asset protection firm, according to court records.

Family and supporters wrote letters to the judge, praising Filenger for his hard work and his generosity over the years.

One rabbi wrote that Filenger quietly paid for a kitchen to be installed at a local synagogue about a dozen years ago — long before the fraud began — and insisted that his donation receive no fanfare.

Other friends wrote that he is a good father and a generous and caring friend and that his example and encouragement brought many new members to his synagogue.

The complicated fraud involved ripping off auto insurance companies by improperly running up treatment costs and illegally billing for Personal Injury Protection insurance money under Florida's no-fault law, authorities said.

Participants made kickback payments to get people who could legally access supposedly confidential traffic accident reports to illegally steer drivers and passengers to the corrupt chiropractic clinics, investigators said. The “patients” were then signed up for unnecessary and excessive treatment and referred to attorneys who tried to force auto insurance companies to pay settlements, records show.

Workers at the clinics, some of which were secretly owned by Filenger and his allies, required the patients to have multiple appointments, often 15 or more. Workers at the clinics documented exaggerated pain levels and quickly billed insurance providers for the maximum $10,000 allowed for rapid emergency treatment under Florida law.

Prosecutors said the clinics were in south and central Florida, including Sunrise, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Pompano Beach, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach, Miami, Orlando and Kissimmee.

Several other participants, who also admitted their roles in the fraud, have already been sentenced:

Earlier this week, nowdisbarred attorney Jason Dalley, 55, of Boca Raton, was sentenced to one year and nine months in federal prison.

Last month, Andrew Rubinstein, 48, of Miami, who also admitted he played a big role in the crime ring, was sentenced to six years.

Richard Yonover, 66, of Lake Worth, who secretly owned two clinics, is serving one year and one day in prison for his part in the conspiracy.

Linda Varisco, 55, a chiropractor from Coral Springs, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison and must report to prison in June.

And Olga Spivak, 59, a chiropractor from Hollywood, who pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge, is scheduled for sentencing today.

Filenger