Elmont man faces insurance fraud charge in car arson scam, DA says

An Elmont man who filed a stolen car claim was arraigned on insurance fraud Wednesday because his Chevy Tahoe was discovered burning in the Bronx -- hours before he swore he last saw it in his driveway, the Nassau district attorney's office said.

Peter Zorlenzan, 33, was charged with third-degree insurance fraud, first-degree falsifying business records and third-degree falsely reporting an incident. He was released on his own recognizance.

In a claim he filed last year at about 9 a.m. on July 16, he told the Progressive insurance company that the last time he saw his vehicle was 1 a.m. that day in his driveway, prosecutors said. In a sworn statement later to Progressive, he repeated the same story and said the Tahoe had probably been stolen between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m., authorities said.

The night before, his Chevy Tahoe was discovered burning in the Bronx just before 10 p.m. by New York City firefighters, prosecutors said.

When he was shown pictures of the burned vehicle, Zorlenzan identified it as his 2007 Tahoe, and when told that it was ablaze in the Bronx hours before he said he had seen it in his driveway, he told authorities that was impossible, prosecutors said.

Fire marshals for the New York City fire department had referred the case to District Attorney Kathleen Rice. Details on how the vehicle caught on fire were not available Wednesday. Zorlenzan was arrested Tuesday night.

Zorlenzan's attorney, Michael Alber of Commack, said his client is not guilty of the charges and that he made a mistake on the time.

"People get nervous dealing with insurance companies over the phone," Alber said.

"He did not receive any proceeds or benefits from anything they allege," the attorney said.

Alber called the prosecution's case "extremely, extremely weak."

"Their case rests upon speculation and conjecture on what they think happened and not what innocently happened."

If convicted of insurance fraud, Zorlenzan would face a maximum sentence of 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison.

"Even though the victim in this case is an automobile insurance company, this is far from being a victimless crime," Rice said in a statement. "Scams like this one contribute to increases in automobile insurance rates for everyone."