Body Shop Charged: Beating up Cars for Profit

Perfect Collision in Boro Park is far from perfect. The owner and a worker have ended up in jail for “committing insurance fraud multiple times,” says King’s County District Attorney Charles Hynes.

“The fraud was very clear here,” District Attorney Charles Hynes said yesterday of the alleged scam at Perfect Collision in Borough Park. “The defendants were taking cars with minor damage and enhancing that.”

According to the DA and WPIX-TV, this is what would happen. A car would first come into the body shop with minor damage. Investigators state that the employees at Perfect Collision would then add a few more dents and dings with hammers and chisels to increase their profit margin. They would then turn the claim into the customer’s insurance company and put the extra cash and put it in their pockets.

Tipped off by Geico, investigators set up a sting. They took an undercover vehicle and documented the damage through pictures then notified the insurance adjuster BEFORE they brought the car into Perfect Collision. The next day they say they caught the criminals in the act.

Hynes stated at a press conference, “The defendant, Elie Berger, showed the car to the adjuster, who not surprisingly found the damage to the vehicle was much greater than the previous day.”

On top of all that, according to the NY Daily News, investigators also found $700,000 in cash between the Berger’s shop and his home, even though he had filed for public assistance.

When asked about Berger however, a friend of 15 years named Nuchem Fried stated, “He has a heart of gold, I can’t see Elie doing anything like this.”

Other friends believe that he was probably framed. Joe Kestenbaum said, “This is probably done by his competition or people trying to get him out of business.” Sure, that sounds reasonable.  Think the jury will buy it?

Berger, along with another worker, Hershy Greenberger, were indicted on four counts of insurance fraud and two counts of grand larceny. However, prosecutors are stating that the suspects could also face additional charges of tax and welfare fraud.

Berger bonded out of jail with $25,000. If he’s convicted though, he faces up to 14 years in prison, while Greenberger faces up to 7.