Fla. Law Enforcement Vet to Lead Fraud Division

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher announced that a veteran law enforcement officer with more than 22 years of municipal and state experience has been tapped to take over as director of Florida’s Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF).

Eric Miller, who currently serves as chief of the Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations, will assume duties as DIF director on Aug. 1. Miller was asked to take on the role when Bob Neumann asked to step down to assistant director, a change that will allow him to move back to South Florida. As CFO, Gallagher oversees the Department of Financial Services, which includes the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Division of Insurance Fraud.

“Eric’s expertise will ensure the division maintains its status as the premier agency of its kind in the nation,” Gallagher said. “I feel honored that two of the state’s most experienced law enforcement officers are leading the division.”

For five years, the division reportedly has consistently led the nation’s insurance fraud bureaus in insurance fraud arrests, convictions or presentations for prosecution. The division is responsible for investigating fraud in all lines of insurance, including auto, health, homeowners, life, and workers’ compensation as well as insurance company insolvencies.

“I look forward to these new challenges and to working with CFO Gallagher to curb the costly crime of insurance fraud,” Miller said. “I am excited to join such an aggressive law enforcement division, and am glad that Bob Neumann agreed to stay on as assistant director so we can continue the division’s good work.”

Before taking on the role of chief of the Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations, Miller was chief of Florida’s State Park Police, assistant director of law enforcement for the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Law Enforcement, and Chief of Internal Investigations for DEP’s Office of Inspector General.

Before that, Miller served over a decade as a municipal police officer, detective, and trainer assigned to units within the functional areas of uniformed patrol, major crimes control, and administrative and technical services.