Bel Air Mechanic Pleads Guilty In Thefts At Car Dealership Tied To Bogus Insurance Claims

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A Parkville man has admitted he made hundreds of bogus repair claims to steal more than $200,000 from the Bel Air car dealership where he worked, prosecutors said.

Kenneth Wayne Collins III, 35, worked at a Bel Air car dealership from Jan. 8, 2018, to Nov. 6, 2018. He used information obtained in his job as a service technician to file more than 260 fraudulent claims for fake mechanical repairs under vehicle service contracts issued by three insurance companies: Zurich NA, Ally and Fidelity.

In all, Collins pocketed more than $223,000 in connection with his scheme, which ran from Jan. 12, 2018, to May 29, 2019, according to a news release from Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown.

On Oct. 2, Collins pleaded guilty to one count of theft scheme involving property valued at $100,000 or more. Collins is scheduled to be sentenced later this year.

Under the plea agreement, Collins faces a maximum sentence of five years of incarceration. He will have to pay restitution as a condition of probation.

In an unrelated 2019 case, Collins pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and was granted probation before judgment. He was ordered to pay $10,272 in restitution, part of which he paid with the money that he stole in the Harford County theft scheme.