IE magazine likes to round up some of the more interesting frauds, scams and crime news for you, just to keep claims specialists and risk pricing experts out there all happy n buzzing with ideas. If you think like a crim, you can defeat the latest criminal enterprises – that’s how we look at it.
Enjoy
CRASH FOR CASH STILL HAPPENING
No that Portal thingie didn’t stop the crash-for-cash scam artists. The Manchester Evening News reports that Natasha Tanveer, Abdullah Tanveer and Hammad Khan were found guilty of fraud after they tried to claim £53,000 by faking a road collision. Interestingly, they faked a claimant ID by using a stolen/lost passport and a fake polling card record was used to strengthen the ploy.
Another detail is that a forged bank statement was sent to a solicitor at a later date, to further back up the fake person ID.
However, the Diamond insurance company decided to investigate the claim rather than pay out, resulting in a trial, conviction and a sentence of a couple of years porridge for each of the trio. More here at the MEN site.
BIG TIME VAT FRAUD
This one is straight from the CPS;
A prolific criminal who fraudulently claimed VAT repayments totalling £1.89 million in order to buy three homes abroad amongst other luxury items has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Graham Drury, 69, pleaded guilty on Monday, 2 August at Mold Crown Court to one count of VAT evasion. He has also been disqualified from being a business director for 10 years. Drury is a serial fraudster who has previous convictions for fraud and theft. The CPS is now pursuing a Confiscation Order to recover the losses. Drury was sentenced on Tuesday, 3rd August and has also been disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years.
Drury was the sole director of Drury Machine Sales Limited when, between August 2014 and July 2017, he made false purchase claims which amounted to approximately £11million. These false purchase claims generated VAT repayments of £1.89 million that were pocketed by Drury and withdrawn through the company bank accounts. Drury used this money to buy three Spanish properties, a UK property as well as other luxury items. He also spent £47,600 on jewellery.
After an investigation by HMRC officers, it was found that Drury Machine Sales Limited was not operating at a level that Drury had claimed in his receipts to HMRC. There was no evidence of Drury’s claim of a business turnover of £2.13 million.
ALWAYS CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK ON CHARITIES
It’s great to do some social good and help others who have been dealt some tough cards in life of course. But equally, it’s useful to question the true motives of amny who wear the mask of charity. The Mail Online reports that Lois Bhagwan, 56, convinced victims to invest in a dodgy humanitarian initiative called the Lionheart Project which she launched in 1992.
Bhagwan claimed to be pals with Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama and other celebs and basically rented a luxury lifestyle, whilst suckering in more victims over the next 18 years or so. Incredibly she only received a three year sentence, despite some people losing over £25,000 each.
FAKE ID SCAMMER BUSTED
Parking tickets can be annoying, but trying to avoid them by hijacking someone else’s ID is not the best way to avoid payment. Rio Beardmore thought he could use a deceased person’s ID as his vehicle’s DVLA address and that would effectively cancel further action over traffic tickets.
According to the Stoke Sentinel Beardmore used the name and address of James Sharman after gaining access to his flat as a locksmith. There are several holes in the story, so it isn’t really clear how Beardmore thought Sharman was deceased, without any proof of his demise. Sharman also claims he never opened any post from various parking companies and bailiffs, over a period of some six months, despite actually living there.
To add a plot twist Beardmore claims to have PTSD and posted a photo of himself to the press via SWNS agency – quite odd behaviour, as most people don’t want their picture in the local paper when convicted of something. Worth noting for future reference.
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