Abandoned Motorcycle Leads to Insurance Fraud Charges in New York

An Amherst, New York woman and her 19-year-old son face insurance fraud charges for filing a $7,000 insurance claim after telling police the woman’s motorcycle had been stolen.

Roseann Degenfelder, 43, and Jeremy Perez, 19, were arrested following an investigation by local police and in New York Insurance Department’s Frauds Bureau.

The investigation started after after police found Degenfelder’s 2007 Yamaha motorcycle lying unattended on the side of a highway on July 13. The motorcycle was recovered shortly before she called police to report it stolen. Perez is accused of abandoning the motorcycle on the side of the expressway, so his mother could file a $7,000 claim for the loss with Geico Insurance Co.

Police found damage to the motorcycle similar to damage Degenfelder described when filing an accident claim with Geico on July 8. Neither that claim, denied because she did not have collision coverage, nor the later claim were paid.

If convicted, Degenfelder and Perez could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.