Man Charged With Insurance Deception After House Fire

A Massachusetts man faces charges of insurance deception after fire destroyed his second home in Maine.

Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says 49-year-old William Carabetta of Monson, Massachusetts had a house in New Portland in 2017. The Carrabasset Road home was destroyed by fire in January of that year and the damage was so extensive that investigators were unable to determine how it started.

Now, the Maine Fire Marshal's Office has charged Carbetta with four counts of insurance deception and a fifth charge of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Investigators say Carabetta bought the home in 2014 for $84,000, and received $350,000 in insurance proceeds after the fire. In addition, he had an insurance claim for water damage from frozen pipes and the reported theft of an ATV from the property in 2016. Fire investigators from Maine have been working with police in Monson, Massachusetts prior to Carabetta's arrest.

He was taken to the Hampden County Jail in Ludlow on a fugitive from justice charge. Carbetta is expected to return to Maine once that charge has been resolved.