Woman Filed Insurance Claim For Stolen Car Seized By Cops: DA

WOODBURY, NY - A Brooklyn woman was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly filing a fake insurance claim to a Woodbury company for a car that she knew was seized by police, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

Gleudys Ilarraza, 46, was charged with third degree, third degree insurance fraud and first degree falsifying business records, the DA said.

She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court January 24. If convicted of the top count she faces 2 to seven years in prison.

In 2014, a 2009 Buick Enclave that was registered and insured in Ilarraza's name, was impounded at the time of her boyfriend’s arrest in a DEA drug investigation, the DA said.

Instead of trying to get the car back from police, she falsely reported it stolen to her insurance company, Geico and made statements supporting her fake claim to the company's Woodbury office, the DA said. She then reported the car as stolen to the NYPD in 2017 in order to support her false claim, according to the DA.

Ilarraza also reported that she lost a purse worth $1,455, sunglasses worth $200, a Garmin GPS worth $120 and a white diamond ring worth $1,000 that were inside the "stolen" car, according to the DA.

Geico wrote her a check for $10,072.10 for her fake claim.

However, when the DEA ran a DMV records check for the car, it revealed she had reported it stolen nearly two months after it was seized and while the DEA was in possession of it.

“This defendant is accused cashing in on an insurance claim by reporting her car stolen to her insurance company and the police, even though she knew it had been impounded by the police,” Singas said. “Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime, because false claims raise the cost of insurance for everyone and I applaud the work of our partners in the DEA for making sure this defendant is held accountable for her actions.”

Photo: NCDA