Fraud of the Week
November 11, 2019
Arson — Indiana
Amount: $80,000
A 26-year old Indianapolis man has been arrested after falsely claiming that he had $80,000 worth of belongings stolen from his apartment to collect a big insurance payout. Police responded to his apartment after reports that there had been a burglary. The fraudster told police he arrived home to find his front window open and door unlocked. He reported several items stolen including luggage, kitchen appliances, electronics, clothing, jewelry and his cat's food and water bowls.
The fraudster was able to provide pictures of all of the stolen items, citing his purchasing of a renters insurance policy as motivation to document his expensive belongings. He estimated the total value of the stolen goods as $50,000 but later filed a claim with State Farm valuing the items at $80,000.
Later, a detective began investigating the case and a police captain began to notice inconsistencies between the report and what the fraudster had said on the scene.
Although a burglary had actually occurred on August 9th, the fraudster embellished the amount of the losses from $1,400 to the reported $80,000. The fraudster eventually admitted that he embellished the losses in order to "test" his new renters insurance policy, and told the detective that he packed up his most valuable belongings in several pieces of luggage and hid them in his car before calling the police. He told detectives that he planned on donating some of the money, and keeping the rest for himself.
The fraudster has been arrested and charged with insurance fraud and false informing.