GEICO SAYS “EXOTIC SOLUTIONS” USED CHEAP PARTS AFTER INSURER PAID FOR MERCEDES-MADE.
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Delray Beach body shop owner is facing felony fraud charges after investigators say he billed Geico Insurance for an expensive factory replacement part, then quietly swapped in a cheaper aftermarket version and tried to cover it up with fake paperwork. Devin Michael Simmons, 37, owner of Exotic Solutions, was arrested Wednesday by the Florida Department of Financial Services and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of organized fraud and filing a false and fraudulent insurance claim. Simmons lives in West Boca Raton.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by BocaNewsNow.com, the case began after a Geico policyholder filed a claim in November 2024 for damage to a 2012 Mercedes-Benz. An adjuster inspected the car that December, wrote an estimate that included a factory OEM replacement hood, and Geico issued a two-party payment of $14,086.25 to the customer and Exotic Solutions. That payment included $6,240 earmarked specifically for the OEM hood, after the adjuster confirmed no recycled or aftermarket options were available.
But when the same adjuster later inspected the finished repair, something didn’t match. The hood on the car wasn’t the factory part Geico paid for — it was a cheaper aftermarket version. Investigators say Simmons was confronted and submitted invoices meant to prove an OEM hood had been purchased, but detectives say those documents were fabrications. Mercedes-Benz of Delray confirmed to investigators that the OEM part had never actually been ordered or paid for, and that a related invoice had been canceled.
Simmons ultimately admitted the OEM hood “was not available at the time,” according to the affidavit, and paid Geico $3,900 to settle the price difference before the claim was closed. That didn’t end the matter — the Department of Financial Services’ Bureau of Insurance Fraud pursued charges anyway, alleging Simmons intentionally deceived the insurer and caused it financial harm. Simmons was booked Aug. 5 and held until he posted $10,000 bond.
