Posted on: October 29, 2019 03:30 PM

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Flushing man charged with insurance fraud on his 160 000 McLaren

Acting Queens District Attorney John M. Ryan today announced that a 36-year-old Flushing man has been charged with insurance fraud, attempted grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly claiming his pricey McLaren sports car had been stolen and then followed up by filing phony insurance claim for a cash payout. In actuality, the defendant accidentally crashed his own car on October 5, 2019, and allegedly walked away from the scene and the damaged vehicle.

Acting District Attorney Ryan said, ?The defendant in this case figured he would cash in rather than take responsibility for a costly crash. He allegedly told police his pricey McLaren 570 sports car had been stolen, filed a police report and then proceeded to file a false insurance claim in an attempted to recoup $160,000. The defendant - caught in his tracks - is now facing prison time for his greed.?

The District Attorney?s Office identified the defendant as Gaston Castro, 36, of Jewel Avenue in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens. The defendant was arraigned yesterday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Toni Cimino on a complaint charging him with second-degree insurance fraud, third-degree attempted grand larceny, making a punishable false written statement and third-degree falsely reporting an incident. Judge Cimino released the defendant on his own recognizance and ordered Castro back to court on December 2, 2019. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 15 years in prison.

According to the charges, said Acting DA Ryan, on October 5, 2019, Castro filed a police report with the 107 NYPD Police Precinct claiming the light blue car had been stolen from its parking spot outside his home. The vehicle, which was found in the brush off a road in Nassau County, was recovered by the police and the defendant was informed. On October 7, 2019, the defendant allegedly filed a claim with GEICO Insurance for the ?stolen? vehicle in an effort to collect the total cost of the vehicle, which he had purchased in 2018 for $160,000.

According to the complaint, said Acting DA Ryan, the defendant later admitted that the sky blue car had not been stolen. He allegedly said in sum and substance that he had been involved in a collision and left the scene of the crash.

It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
(From Queens DA's Office)