Pennsylvania

October 26, 2007
Attorney General Corbett announces insurance fraud charges
against Columbia County couple

HARRISBURG - A Columbia County husband and wife were arrested
yesterday on charges that they submitted two false insurance claims for
more than $22,000 in an effort to cover-up damage their pick-up truck
sustained in an accident.

Attorney General Tom Corbett identified the defendants as Lucille Marie
Merenda, 58, PO Box 104, Pine Summit Lot 16, Ringtown and her
husband, Robert J. Merenda, 57, of the same address.

According to court documents, on June 16, 2007, the Merenda's filed an
auto claim with Travelers Insurance for more than $11,000 alleging that
the couple's 2002 Chevrolet pick-up truck was stolen from their driveway
during the middle of the night.

Corbett said that the Merenda's told claim agents that Lucille left the
keys in the truck's ignition while it was parked in their driveway
overnight.

The criminal complaint states that on the same day the Merenda's filed
their auto claim, Lucille Merenda went to a Pottsville hospital to have her
wrist examined. The defendant allegedly told medical staff that she
injured her wrist after falling on her deck.
Corbett said that Lucille Merenda's personal health insurance paid more
than $10,600 in medical costs as a result of the injury sustained to her
wrist.

The investigation revealed that the Merenda's vehicle had never been
stolen and that Lucille Merenda had allegedly been involved in an
accident during the early morning hours of June 16.

According to court documents, Lucille Merenda allegedly struck a
telephone pole with her truck and injured her wrist. Shortly after the
accident, her husband allegedly arrived at the accident scene and
assisted her out of the wrecked vehicle and drove home, abandoning the
wrecked truck.

Lucille Merenda is charged with three counts of insurance fraud and one
count each of criminal attempt theft by deception and theft by
deception. Each count is a third-degree felony and carries a maximum
penalty of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine. She is also charged
with one count of false reports to law enforcement, a third-degree
misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Robert Merenda is charged with two counts of insurance fraud and one
count each of criminal attempt theft by deception and false reports to
law enforcement.

Both of the Merendas were taken into custody today and were
preliminarily arraigned before Catawissa Magisterial District Justice Craig
Long and were released on their own recognizance. A preliminary hearing
is scheduled for Nov. 2, 2007.

The case will be prosecuted in Columbia County by Senior Deputy
Attorney General Mark Bellavia of the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud
Section.

(A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=3047