MAN CHARGED WITH FILING FALSE INSURANCE CLAIM AFTER HOME BURNS AS A RESULT OF ARSON

CONTACT: Nina Banister
(850) 413-2842

HOLLYWOOD- A man accused of falsifying an insurance claim after a December fire damaged a Southwest Ranches home that he owns was arrested this morning by insurance fraud investigators with the Department of Financial Services on charges of insurance fraud, grand theft, and uttering a forged instrument.

John Carstea, 36, of 16592 NW 9th Court, Pembroke Pines, allegedly submitted to Poe Financial Services an altered contractor's receipt for boarding up the damaged home. Investigators said the cost had been changed from $3,200 to $7,008, and that Carstea provided a tape-recorded statement to the insurance company confirming the expense.

"Insurance fraud drives up the cost of coverage for all of us," Gallagher said. "I urge anyone with any information about this case to please come forward."

Carstea filed the insurance claim following an early morning fire on Dec. 21, 2003, that destroyed a home he owns at 5301 SW 186th Ave. The State Fire Marshal's Office, Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations, determined the fire was a result of arson, and an investigation is continuing. Fire investigators said the home was unoccupied.

Carstea was booked into the Broward County Jail where he will remain pending posting of $3,000 bond. If convicted on all counts, he faces a statutory sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Anyone with information about the alleged insurance fraud is asked to call 1-800-378-0445. Anyone with information regarding the fire is asked to call 1-877-NOARSON.

The Department of Financial Services, Fraud Division, investigates various forms of fraud in insurance, including health, life, auto, property and workers' compensation insurance. The Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations is a law enforcement branch of the Division Of State Fire Marshal that assists other state and local fire and law enforcement agencies in the investigation of fires of suspicious origin.