Man arrested in Lawrence accused of faking theft of minivan

By Mark E. Vogler
Staff Writer

March 28, 2008 12:10 am

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LAWRENCE — Police have arrested a man on charges of faking the theft of his 1997 Dodge Caravan three and a half years ago after he fell behind in his car payments.

Ruben Ceballos, 55, of Lowell was charged Wednesday with filing a fraudulent auto insurance claim, attempted larceny and false report of a crime.

Ceballos filed a report with Lawrence Police on Aug. 3, 2004 claiming that the minivan was taken from the intersection of Newbury and Essex streets while he was inside a store buying some soup.

But he contradicted himself later, telling an insurance adjuster for OneBeacon Insurance Co. that he was at a downtown disco, La Vida Loca, playing cards and billiards when the theft occurred. That, and other inconsistencies between what Ceballos said in his stolen vehicle affidavit and what he later told the insurance company adjuster, prompted OneBeacon to deny the claim.

OneBeacon later referred the case to the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts for possible investigation.

Ceballos is the latest of 292 individuals charged with auto insurance fraud in cases brought by the city's auto insurance fraud task force since the fall of 2003. The unit is composed of Lawrence police detectives working with investigators of the fraud bureau. The task force also works closely with the district attorney's office, the attorney general's office and investigators for insurance companies that do business in Lawrence.

Officials said the most compelling evidence in the case was a forensic investigation by a specialist for OneBeacon, which determined that the damage done to the stolen car was cosmetic, to make it look like the vehicle had been tampered with. The investigator concluded that the security features of the steering column were not defeated and that the car couldn't have been stolen.

Lawrence Detective Jaimie Britto of the city's auto theft unit noted in his report that Ceballos had fallen behind on his car loan even though he was claiming that his payments were current.