Former LAPD reserve officer and his brother charged with insurance fraud over Bentley crash

[ad_1] A former Los Angeles Police Division reserve officer and his brother have been charged with insurance coverage fraud after prosecutors say they misrepresented particulars in a greater than $200,000 insurance coverage declare associated to a Bentley crash in January 2023.

Eric Benjamin “Ben” Halem, 37, a former full-time LAPD officer and ex-reserve officer, pleaded not responsible to 2 felony counts of insurance coverage fraud on Friday. His brother Jacob Halem, 32, additionally pleaded not responsible to a depend of insurance coverage fraud, based on the Los Angeles County district lawyer’s workplace.

Eric Halem’s automotive rental firm, Drive LA, boasts a fleet of uncommon, luxurious automobiles, together with a 2020 Bentley Continental GT. The California Division of Insurance coverage mentioned in a information launch on Friday that Eric Halem instructed his insurance coverage firm that his brother had borrowed the automobile and crashed it on Jan. 5, 2023.

However the division’s investigation revealed that the Bentley had been rented by a Drive LA consumer and that the renter crashed the automobile three days earlier than the brothers claimed Jacob crashed it.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division deputies responded to the accident scene involving the rental driver and documented the automobile’s harm with physique digicam footage, the insurance coverage division mentioned in its launch.

After the rental driver’s insurance coverage declare was denied due to an absence of correct protection, Eric Halem filed a fraudulent declare together with his insurance coverage firm on his private coverage, misrepresenting particulars of the accident, authorities allege.

An lawyer representing Jacob Halem didn't instantly return a request for remark. It isn't clear if Eric Halem has an lawyer.

The division of insurance coverage alleges that Eric Halem claimed his brother had been driving the automobile on the time of the crash, which they mentioned was on Jan. 5, 2023. They submitted what the division known as “staged pictures” of the broken Bentley on a tow truck.

Insurance coverage division investigators mentioned the harm within the images the brothers submitted was similar to the harm captured on physique digicam footage from the renter’s crash three days earlier.

Authorities allege Jacob Halem supplied a false assertion to the insurance coverage firm investigator to corroborate his brother’s declare.

It isn’t clear if the insurance coverage firm paid for the automotive to be fastened. The division of insurance coverage mentioned the “whole potential loss” from the declare was $229,283.