Crime & Safety

RVC Body Shop Owner Found Not Guilty on Insurance Fraud Charges

Lorraine Pilitz, owner of Autotech Collision, was accused of submitting fraudulent records for an insurance claim, but a jury recently found her not guilty.

According to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, Lorraine Pilitz, 52, of Merrick and owner of Autotech Collision in Rockville Centre, was charged in September 2010 with three counts of fourth-degree insurance fraud and falsifying business records.

On June 22, a jury found Pilitz not guilty on all charges.

According to her attorney Oscar Michelen:

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The charges stemmed from a 2009 auto accident in which the vehicle Ms. Pilitz was driving in was rear-ended by another motorist. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office charged in an indictment that Ms. Pilitz, and her towing and auto body shop Autotech Collision Inc of Rockville Centre NY, tried to receive extra funds from Geico Insurance Company, who insured the other motorist. Ms. Pilitz always maintained her innocence and testified at trial that she was only trying to obtain what she was entitled to under the law.

“It’s a total vindication for me and my company,” Pilitz stated after the verdict. “I have had to fight GEICO and other insurers as well several incorporated villages for years just to let me run my business. This time, though they nearly put me out of business with these charges, which should have never been brought in the first place. I’m so thankful that this jury understood what was going on and threw the whole case out.”

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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