Woman accused of selling health plans and keeping victims’ money

Several people in Juiz de Fora accuse a woman of applying fraud related to health plans in the city. The accused presents itself as a mediator and offers Unimed agreements to clients. After earning the trust of the victims, you will fail to pay the monthly installments and allocate funds. The Tribuna report compiled a series of reports from people who pursued the newspaper claiming to be victims of the embezzler, with losses of more than R$60,000.

The report also gained access to five records of social defense events (Reds) carried out with the military police, between January and February of this year, in which victims referred to the same woman as the owner of the planned embezzlement. of health. The civil police in Juiz de Fora already have procedures in place to investigate cases, and Unimed says it is cooperating with the investigations.

In the reports compiled by the report, the alleged embezzler began contacting potential victims between the past two years. Presenting themselves as a health insurance broker, the woman will offer plans at reasonable cost, sometimes to people who need to undergo surgery or who have a greater need due to some health problem. Initially, plans were initiated, clients even used health services.

However, after a few months, the victims started receiving letters from Unimed informing them not to pay the monthly installments. “We told her it was late, because the letters came in, and she said everything was fine. In January of this year, everything was messed up, and she stopped paying completely,” says Kelly Carly, a aged nursing technologist. 42 years old, she and her sister claim that she was a victim of embezzler.

Kelly says she was guided by a friend to do business with the woman. In her case, the suspect had offered a promotional package that required a six-month advance payment. However, after the contract was signed, the fees began to arrive. The nursing technician reports a loss of R$4,000. On the other hand, her sister lost R$11,000.

Over the past few months, the victim allegedly kept in constant contact with the alleged broker, who claimed she would make the payments. But since Thursday (3) the suspect has not responded to messages. I was trying to negotiate with her in a good way to see if she would pay the arrears. As we chatted amicably, I imagined she would pay those arrears,” he says.

The monthly fee for January and February has not been paid. I had to pay the premiums because I was going to have surgery and needed to make payments to switch plans and “pull the grace period,” says Kelly. Paz belongs to a social media group of 35 women who were also victims of alleged brokering, says Kelly.

Similar dynamics

The approach to the alleged victim and the misappropriation of funds would have occurred in a similar manner to nursing technician Luciano De Assis, 39, another victim of the fraud. In his case, the first contact occurred about two years ago, when he and his wife were planned. Later, Luciano also recorded for the two children. “We used the plan, but in January, when we went to use it, it said I hadn’t paid the monthly fee for five months,” he said.

As for Luciano, the woman would have said that she represented two other companies. “You go a few months without paying and then ask for upfront payment to change the plan. You deposit the amount you ask for, and the money is not transferred to the plan,” says the nursing technician, who believes he suffered a loss of R$4,000.

Loss of 60,000 Brazilian riyals

Businesswoman Talita Franco Gonçalves, 37, says she met the alleged broker while taking her daughter to school. In her case, a business health plan for Ecológica Ar Condicionado was signed. “In 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, I looked for her. Because I called her, she was a well-known person, and we came to an agreement,” he says. “With us, she says she works in a brokerage. But when she makes the plan, she pretends to be the owner of the business and opens the health plan,” she explains.

The rest of the process is the same for the other victims. After starting to pay on a regular basis, they are allegedly offering a promotional plan with the condition that the installments are paid in advance. “She started making these deposits, and she sent me all the payment receipts. I sent fake receipts,” accuses Talita. “I pressed saying she got the promotion that day, and if there were no payments that day, we wouldn’t get the discount.”

At the company run by Talita, 15 employees and the families of these workers used the health plan. In total, the businesswoman calculates a loss of between R$50,000 and R$60,000. “Out of debt, I owe Unimed R$40,000 and all plans have been cancelled. I still have debts on the credit card that I paid (to the suspect),” he says. “I pressed her and paid R$18,000. But since January, she hasn’t returned anything. She just disappeared,” says Talita, who says she knows more than 40 coup victims.

Among the five incidents that the Tribunal has access to, all of which are similar to those already reported to the police by the people interviewed by the report, the one recorded by the 47-year-old municipal employee stands out. She reported that, through referrals from friends, she contacted the woman who introduced herself as a health insurance representative. According to the victim, in December last year, she personally met the suspect at the Guise de Fora Center. On this occasion, the woman presented the plans and methods of payment for the server.

The victim signed a plan without participation, valid for 12 months, handing over copies of documents and financial settlement in the amount of R$6,000, by bank debit, in addition to installments in the amount of R$18,753.96 in 12 installments. .

According to the victim, on the day she joined the scheme, after making the payments, she did not receive from the suspect proof of the financial transactions made, and she was not granted an association contract, with the woman’s claim. That it would be sent later via email, which was not done.

After a few days without the victim receiving the bank receipts and the contract, and after notifying others of the suspect’s health plans problems, the server opted out of the sticking, asking the woman to return the amount already paid and cancel the premiums.

In response, the suspect forwarded banking protocols to the server. Suspiciously, the employee decided to consult banking institutions and found out that such protocols are inconsistent in the system. The alleged brokerage sought to promise that it would return the cash payment within ten days, but this did not happen.

The server also reported that, by her own means, she had searched with Unimed about the suspect and had obtained in response the information that the woman was not part of the company’s staff.

Civilian police work together between police stations

The Civil Police of Juiz de Fora stated that among the records of the cases in which the suspect was implicated, an investigation had been launched at the Civil Police 1st Precinct. He pointed out that the intelligence sector in the Fourth District is aware of the truth and conducts the necessary surveys to work alongside police stations. “In any case, it is worth noting that, in these cases, it is necessary to represent the victim in the investigation of the facts,” the civil police instructed.

customer reception

Regarding the situation, Unimed Juiz de Fora reports that it welcomes its customers, officially informs those involved and actively and seriously cooperates with the police authorities in order to properly investigate the facts and solve the case.

Tribuna tried to contact the suspect by phone call and text messages so that she could take a stand on the facts, but there was no response.