A Cuban woman is arrested for being part of a large fraud scheme in Miami-Dade

Florida authorities have made a new arrest in connection with a fraudulent insurance school operating near Miami International Airport.

Cuban Diana Nodarse Cruz, 36, a resident of Miami Lakes, was arrested on Tuesday and faces six felony charges, including organized crime, conspiracy, and fraud.

According to the investigators, Nodarse was a partner of her husband, Rainier Miguel Salas, in a scheme that manipulated 820 state license exams for aspiring insurance agents.

The D&R Academy, located in an office building at 6405 NW 36th St. in Virginia Gardens, was identified as the epicenter of the fraud.

According to the authorities, the academy allowed candidates to pay between $400 and $2,000 for third parties to take their state license examinations.

The tests were altered using unauthorized computers, which facilitated the manipulation of at least 820 exams between 2021 and 2024, according to local media reports.

The investigation began following an audit that detected irregularities in the evaluation system of Pearson VUE, the state contractor responsible for the testing.

Operating methodof the scheme

Witnesses in the case stated that the candidates were instructed to leave watches and phones outside the testing room, where the exams were monitored remotely by those involved from another room.

This operation allowed unauthorized individuals to take exams on behalf of the actual candidates.

The authorities described the behavior of those involved as "reprehensible" and confirmed that the scheme involved a broad network of illegal activities that compromised the integrity of the insurance licensing system in Florida.

Diana Nodarse Cruz played a crucial role in the operation.

According to the arrest report, her responsibilities included: coordinating appointments for illegal licenses; organizing preliminary pre-licensing hours; managing personal information such as biographical data, state IDs, and credit card information; and advising her husband on the prices to charge for the fraudulent services.

Text messages obtained from Rainier Miguel Salas's phone confirmed that Nodarse was assisting her husband in operating as an unlicensed agent.

In one of the messages, Salas asked Nodarse to send him the website for the health insurance market to quote policies, which she did.

Salas, a convicted felon prohibited from obtaining insurance licenses, also faced previous charges related to the scheme.

Other involved parties

Nodarse joins a group of detainees that includes:

Rainier Miguel Salas, 59 years old, husband of Nodarse.

Rainier Alexander Salas, 27 years old, son of the primary defendant.

Jaroslav Verner, 32 years old, a resident of Alpharetta, Georgia, was arrested in September.

Karla Lit Peralta, 26 years old, was previously detained but released after cooperating with the investigation.

Five additional individuals, identified as "associates," are also linked to the case, although their names have not yet appeared in the Miami-Dade court records.

Nodarse remains detained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK). A bail of $12,500 has been set, but if it is paid, she must prove that the funds come from a legitimate source.

The cases against the other individuals involved, including the Salas and Verner, remain active in the judicial system.

Frequently Asked Questions about the License Fraud Case in Miami-Dade