Former LAPD reserve officer and his brother charged with insurance fraud over Bentley crash
Eric Benjamin 'Ben' Halem, 37, a former full-time LAPD officer and ex-reserve officer, pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of insurance fraud on Friday. His brother Jacob Halem, 32, also pleaded not guilty to a count of insurance fraud, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Eric Halem's car rental company, Drive LA, boasts a fleet of rare, luxury vehicles, including a 2020 Bentley Continental GT. The California Department of Insurance said in a news release on Friday that Eric Halem told his insurance company that his brother had borrowed the vehicle and crashed it on Jan. 5, 2023.
Read more: They said a bear attacked their Rolls Royce. But the real culprit was even stranger
But the department's investigation revealed that the Bentley had been rented by a Drive LA client and that the renter crashed the vehicle three days before the brothers claimed Jacob crashed it.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to the accident scene involving the rental driver and documented the vehicle's damage with body camera footage, the insurance department said in its release.
After the rental driver's insurance claim was denied because of a lack of proper coverage, Eric Halem filed a fraudulent claim with his insurance company on his personal policy, misrepresenting details of the accident, authorities allege.
An attorney representing Jacob Halem did not immediately return a request for comment. It is not clear if Eric Halem has an attorney.
Read more: A smashed Polaris Slingshot, friends inside the CHP. How investigators unraveled an insurance plot
The department of insurance alleges that Eric Halem claimed his brother had been driving the vehicle at the time of the crash, which they said was on Jan. 5, 2023. They submitted what the department called 'staged photographs' of the damaged Bentley on a tow truck.
Insurance department investigators said the damage in the photos the brothers submitted was identical to the damage captured on body camera footage from the renter's crash three days earlier.
Authorities allege Jacob Halem provided a false statement to the insurance company investigator to corroborate his brother's claim.
It isn't clear if the insurance company paid for the car to be fixed. The department of insurance said the "total potential loss" from the claim was $229,283.
Eric Halem was removed as a reserve officer with LAPD in March, according to a department spokesperson.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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