An insurance fraud case involving a local couple is to be heard in Otego Town Court on Thursday.
Donald F. Brown, 64, and Gretchen E. Monser, 49, of 180 Farone Road in Otego, were charged by the Frauds Bureau of the state Insurance Department with first-degree falsifying business records and fourth-degree insurance fraud, Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl said Monday.
The charges are felonies punishable by a maximum sentence of 1 1/3-to-four years in prison, he said.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Getman, who is prosecuting the case, said he will meet with the defense attorney and judge in a conference at the court Thursday.
The defendants were arraigned July 10, a court official said Monday.
Ron Klug, spokesman for the state Insurance Fraud Bureau in New York City, said Brown and Monser are accused of filing a false claim for living expenses with the Broome Cooperative Insurance Co. They submitted a claim for a $1,700 rental agreement that allegedly was false and inflated, he said.
The Frauds Bureau was assisted in the arrest by the Otsego County sheriff's department, Klug said, and the arrests weren't publicized previously because the case was considered small and routine. The defendants were arrested in Cooperstown and released pending a court appearance, authorities said.
Broome Cooperative Insurance Co., of Vestal, has a policy not to comment on pending cases, a spokeswoman said Monday.
A woman who answered to Gretchen Monser Brown confirmed Monday by phone that her and Donald ``Bill'' Brown's house in Otego burned in March, but she referred other questions to their attorney, Gar Gozigan.
Gozigan returned a call Monday afternoon but wasn't available when called again Tuesday at his Cooperstown office.
Lyle ``Butch'' Jones, director of emergency services for Otsego County, said the house was destroyed in a fire March 21. The cause and origin were undetermined, he said Monday.
The floors had collapsed onto each other, and fire officials called in an excavator so that crews could extinguish the blaze, Jones said. There wasn't evidence to indicate it was incendiary, he said.
The house was insured by Broome Cooperative Insurance Co., Jones said, and his department estimated its value at between $50,000 and $149,999. At the peak of the effort, about 75 firefighters were at the scene, he said.
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