Schererville Man Charged With Fraud After GoFundMe Funds Didn’t Go To Sons Funeral Costs
A Schererville man was charged with Fraud this week after he allegedly collected funds from a GoFundMe for funeral costs for his deceased son and never put the money towards memorial costs, according to court documents.
In August of 2022 a 10-year-old Autistic boy was tragically struck and killed by a freight train in Dyer. A short time later a GoFundMe account was made by the fathers employer and collected $12,500 which was given to the boys father now identified as Adam Ruiz. The mother of the boy believes Ruiz took the money leaving her with the costs of a funeral and memorial.
When interviewed by Schererville Police Ruiz confirmed that he received $12,500 from the GoFundMe account but had not contributed any money to Logan’s funeral or memorial. Ruiz stated to police that he does not have the money anymore, but could take out a loan if need be, according to court records. Schererville Police advised Ruiz that when a GoFundMe is created for a specific purpose and the money raised is not used for that purpose then it is fraud.
Ruiz told police that the mother of his son did not want any help for the costs and his lawyer also sent an email offering Ruiz’s assistance to the mother but that was never answered. Later in the interview Ruiz then stated, “I’m not paying for any funeral because she only gave me one hour with my son.” Ruiz then told police, “My lawyer is going to have a field day with this.”
Ruiz later stated that he has tried to pay for a tombstone for his son, but the funeral home said he is not in charge of the plot, which later was found not to be true. Ruiz also stated that he wanted to purchase a bench with his sons name on it so he can sit with his son, but was not allowed to do so, which was later found not to be true, according to the memorial director. The memorial director then stated, anyone was able to donate to the burial parcel but never received anything from Ruiz. The funeral director did advise police Ruiz asked about making his own mass cards for the wake, but never ended up doing it, according to the court documents.
Adam Ruiz was charged on 9/18/2023 with Fraud a Level 6 Felony and was arrested on the warrant the next day.
Photo – Dyer Police
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