Brooklyn Center Man Charged with Staging Arson
A Brooklyn Center man has been indicted for insurance fraud for allegedly staging an arson at his home, then trying to collect insurance proceeds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday.
Court documents show Denis Molla reported to police that someone had lit his camper on fire on Sept. 23, 2020, claiming it was targeted because it had a Trump 2020 flag displayed in it. Molla also reported his garage was vandalized with spray painted graffiti that said “Biden 2020” and “BLM,” and an Antifa symbol.
In reality, prosecutors say Molla torched his own camper and spray-painted the graffiti himself. The fire ended up destroying Molla’s garage and three vehicles.
According to investigators, Molla later collected $61,000 in fraudulent proceeds from his insurance company and $17,000 from donors through GoFundMe.
Denis Molla during 2020 interview with CCX News
Court documents show Molla’s insurance company denied some of his claims. Prosecutors say Molla submitted more than $300,00 in fraudulent insurance claims. At the time, prosecutors say Molla claimed that his insurance company was “defrauding him,” and that he threatened to report the company to the Department of Commerce and to the attorney general.
Molla is charged with two counts of wire fraud. The FBI and Brooklyn Center police investigated the case.
During an interview with CCX News in 2020, Molla said “it’s scary to know that my beliefs has created such an anger and such evil for somebody to do something like this.”
