HARRISBURG – A Columbia County husband and wife were arrested 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 ofRingtown 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.