IFED get convictions for crash for cash fraudsters

Two men who defrauded £25,000 from insurers by staging car crashes and sending the repair bills from their own car workshop have been sent to prison.

Richard Cash and Jonathan Baker were given jail time, while their friends Jennifer Shears and Jared Carter-Oram were handedsuspended prison terms after they admitted making false claims for car repairs, recovery and storage costs as well as whiplash injuries from three engineered crashes in Devon.

In November 2009 it was reported that Baker’s VW Golf had collided with Shears’ Toyota Supra and a BMW, resulting in a payout from Direct Line that included almost £7,000 to workshop Shell Shocked Autobodies, owned by Cash and Carter-Oram.

In January 2011 Cash’s BMW, Carter-Oram’s Mazda RX7 and Baker’s Ford Fiesta were all reportedly involved in a crash close to Shell Shocked Autobodies.

Claims totalling £80,000 were submitted to Direct Line, which refused to pay out the whole amount. The following month Shears’ Peugeot 206 was supposedly hit by a Ford Mondeo, leading to payout from Tradewise Insurance which included £2,000 to Shell Shocked Autobodies.

In May 2012 Direct Line referred the claims linked to the January 2011 crash to the City of London Police Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED). Detectives linked this crash to the other two and in July arrested Baker, Carter-Oram, Cash and two other men.

Cash, Baker, Carter-Oram and Shears were charged with, and pleaded guilty to, conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Yesterday Cash, 28, from Brixham, was jailed for 14 months and ordered to pay £16,716.34 to Direct Line and Tradewise. Baker, 30, of Bishopsteignton, was sentenced to six months in prison. Carter-Oram, 32, from Torquay, received a six-month jail term suspended for 12 months and was ordered to undertake 125 hours unpaid work. Shears, 26, from Cambridge, was handed a two-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months. She was also ordered to carry out 75 hours unpaid work and pay a total of £2,220 compensation to the two insurers.

Direct Line head of counter fraud intelligence Mike Brown said: “This sentence sends a clear message that insurance fraud is not a victimless crime and those who seek to defraud insurers will be held to account. Direct Line takes insurance fraud seriously and is committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice. Fraud adds £50 to each and every insurance premium, so every pound taken by fraudsters, is taken from honest policy holders’ pockets.”

Tradewise Insurance claims director Wayne Martin said: “This case demonstrates that working together with like minds in the industry, and with the support of law enforcement authorities, we can continue to fight fraud with confidence. It also sends a strong message to would be fraudsters that Tradewise and other insurers will not tolerate this behaviour.”

IFED detective chief inspector Dave Wood said: “Cash, Baker, Carter-Oram and Shears worked in cahoots to extract as much money as they could from insurers, even sending in repair bills from one of their own workshops. But what these four friends did not count on was IFED and the insurance industry working together to bring to justice criminals who think insurance fraud is an easy way to enhance their bank balance.”