VIRGINIA GARDENS, Fla. — Nearly two years after making the first series of arrests in the case of a “fraudulent insurance school” near the Miami airport, state investigators say they’ve ensnared 12 more agents.
The case involves the former D&R Academy, which was located out of an office building at 6405 NW 36th St. in Virginia Gardens. Local 10 News reported on the first arrests in June 2024, after which Florida’s then-Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis called the allegations “reprehensible.”
Those included the then-59-year-old man accused of running that school, Rainier Miguel Salas. Investigators with the Florida Department of Financial Services alleged that the Miami resident ran an operation in which at least 820 insurance licensing examinations were “subverted” through the school.
Records show Salas, now 61, pleaded guilty to uttering forged instruments and organized scheme to defraud in court cases in 2025, received community control and probation. Several other charges were dropped.
Records additionally show charges were either dropped against other alleged co-conspirators or their cases no longer appeared in Miami-Dade court records as of Tuesday afternoon; those included Salas’ son and ex-wife.
But the D&R case is now back in the spotlight with 12 more co-defendants joining the fold, 11 of whom live in South Florida:
- Jose Avendano, 64, of Doral
- Iliana Bedoya Cuadros, 53, of Palm Springs
- Yilliam Bruzon Betancourt, 37, of Louisville, Kentucky
- Danny Cabrera Martinez, 47, of Hialeah
- Tamara Ferriol Gomez, 27, of West Miami
- Rafael Green Fuentes, 42, of west Miami-Dade
- Ruben Lopez, 35, of southwest Miami-Dade
- Robinson Lopez Tiberio, 55, of Coral Springs
- Jorge Machado, 39, of southwest Miami-Dade
- Jeniffer Mieres Serrano, 25, of southwest Miami-Dade
- Jose Dario Moreno, 39, of Doral
- Cynthia Pinto, 40, of Miami
All are accused of knowingly using the illegal service to fraudulently obtain insurance licenses in 2023 and 2024 and are facing various charges including organized scheme to defraud.
Authorities said Pinto, facing stronger charges, including racketeering, “recruited members of her sales team to participate in the scheme and charged each licensee” $1,500 to $2,000.
Authorities said they were able to tie them to the scheme using digital evidence, including WhatsApp messages, obtained from the original investigation.
They are said in the report to be among the “thousands of illicit licensees” identified through the investigation.
Arrest reports show all were booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Tuesday morning and all were being held at TGK as of Tuesday afternoon.
Besides criminal charges, records show some of the suspects also remained jailed on immigration holds.
Editor’s note: The original version of this article reported that four people were arrested; that number was raised to nine after additional arrests were discovered. It was again raised to 12 after the discovery of even more arrests.
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