Episode 7 Claimed and Shamed


Episode 7

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Insurance fraud in the UK is reaching epidemic levels

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and it's costing us billions of pounds every year.

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Deliberate crashes...

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Bogus personal injury claims...

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Even fake deaths.

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The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing...

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and every year it's adding up to £50 to your insurance bill.

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Insurers are fighting back -

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armed with covert surveillance systems...

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The equipment that we have to use has to be cutting edge,

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it's as simple as that.

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..sophisticated data analysis techniques...

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This is connected to a bank account and a second mobile phone number.

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..and a newly-formed, dedicated police unit...

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Police! Step back!

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..they're catching the criminals red-handed...

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All those conmen, scammers, cheats on the fiddle -

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now they're caught in the act and claimed and shamed.

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Today the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department

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is on the trail of three suspects...

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Does he reside here, sir?

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Well, we need to speak to him, sir.

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..a gang who deliberately cause road traffic collisions is targeted...

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It's a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt.

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..and the camera never lies - even if fraudsters do!

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'I see quite a lot of surveillance evidence,

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'but even I was quite shocked.'

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The deceit level was probably the biggest that I've ever seen.

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Herne Bay, on the Kent coast, was the perfect place...

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for ex-policeman Michael Hoar to enjoy his retirement,

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until a road traffic collision, caused by another driver,

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left Michael injured and his car damaged.

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He submitted a claim on the insurance of the driver responsible.

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Susan Evans is Fraud Operations Manager

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at the insurance company that handled the claim.

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Mr Hoar had stopped at the entry to a roundabout

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and our policyholder had collided with the rear of his vehicle.

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The claim included a list of the injuries that Michael had suffered.

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The injuries that Mr Hoar alleged to have been suffering with

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were a whiplash to the back, and to the neck,

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and an injury to his left foot, and his left knee,

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and some psychological problems,

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including flashbacks of the accident.

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He was claiming for a significant level of injury,

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which would require a hefty payout.

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We were probably looking at between £30,000 to £40,000

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in relation to the claim itself.

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The large claim also included the cost of a piece of equipment

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more associated with leisure than pain relief.

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Mr Hoar put in a claim for £2,300 for a hot tub.

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With such extensive injuries,

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it seemed likely that the policyholder's car

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would be a write-off, but this was not the case.

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There was about £1,500 worth of damage

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to our policyholder's vehicle,

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which is not a significant accident by any stretch of the imagination,

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and the injuries that were being complained of,

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as the medical evidence was materialising,

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were far more severe than one would have anticipated.

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The inconsistency between the extent of the injuries

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and the relatively minor damage to the vehicle set alarm bells ringing.

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The insurer needed to get to the truth -

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the best way was to go undercover.

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The insurer called on the services of a group of investigators

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who specialise in concealed cameras and covert filming.

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Our role is simply to remain covert at all times.

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To go in, take footage, and take as much footage as possible,

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so that the courts can form a correct legal opinion

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of someone's ability or disability.

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Surveillance took place

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on the same day that Michael had to attend an examination.

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'On the day of his medical'

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he presented himself as a person who needed a walking aid,

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who was very, very, ill,

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who was kind of almost shuffling along.

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At one stage, he stopped

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and clearly appeared to have some form of twinge in his back.

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He presented himself as someone with a significant disability.

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The footage supported Michael's claim

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but the surveillance group had their suspicions.

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This is a man who I suspect that he's under surveillance

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at that given point in time

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and wants to portray himself in a certain way.

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However, other footage revealed Michael taking part in an activity

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that blew apart the deception.

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We saw him drag out, from behind his property,

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a fairly substantial powerboat on a trailer,

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attach it to a 4x4 and then drive it off to the local harbour

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and then our last sighting of him was him sailing off into the sunset.

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Under the sharp focus of the surveillance cameras,

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it was apparent that this former pillar of the community

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was trying to cheat his way to a payout that he didn't deserve.

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What's shocking about this particular case

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is that we're dealing with an ex-police officer,

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an ex-police officer who would have been exposed to investigating fraud

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and crime on a day-to-day basis.

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So one would think that he would have a strong sense of right and wrong.

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I see quite a lot of surveillance evidence

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but even I was quite shocked.

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The deceit level was probably the biggest that I've ever seen.

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I think he was a very, very good actor.

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With the insurer certain the claim was fraudulent,

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the decision was taken to pursue the matter in a criminal court.

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A decision was made to take it to a criminal court

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and allow a judge to decide the outcome.

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Before the trial,

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Mr Hoar tried to claim that the person in the footage

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was in fact his brother, but that was a lie, too.

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There was no resemblance to his brother at all.

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The case proceeded to trial.

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Despite the formidable amount of evidence against him,

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Michael initially pleaded not guilty,

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but the footage was so compelling

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that something highly unusual happened in court.

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Some time into the trial, the judge stopped the proceedings

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and suggested that it would have been within Mr Hoar's best interests

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if he pleaded guilty.

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He did eventually plead guilty

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and received a six-month suspended sentence for 12 months.

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For us, actually getting the genuine claim settled quickly and efficiently,

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and weeding out these fraudulent claims is a good day's work.

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A road crash gang that targets innocent drivers...

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I think the whole experience for the young girl

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was shocking and terrifying.

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..and some photos of crash damage are decidedly dodgy...

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The expert found that those images had been tampered with,

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they'd been altered, they'd been taken from different cameras.

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In the fight against the growing problem of insurance fraud,

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an elite police squad have come together to form IFED,

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the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.

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Insurance fraud isn't a victimless crime,

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£50 of each premium you pay each year goes to the fraudsters.

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We have been set up to tackle that problem.

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This dedicated team works tirelessly to bang up the crooks

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and con men getting rich off other people's money.

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Police! Step back!

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It's our intention to create a climate of fear for the fraudster.

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There's every chance an IFED detective

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may come knocking on their door to arrest them

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for committing an insurance fraud.

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Police! Don't move! Stay where you are!

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By April 2012, after only six months of operating,

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they had already busted 80 fraudsters.

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Adding up to £12 million of fraud under investigation.

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These people are criminals, these are nasty people.

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They don't go out to work on a Monday morning like most people do,

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their work is submitting insurance fraud claims.

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Today the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department

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is investigating

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a suspected car insurance fraud.

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It believes a multi-car incident was completely staged.

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The collision involved a convoy of three cars

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driven by people who knew each other

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and were all travelling to the same place.

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DS Mark Forster and his team are aiming to make three arrests.

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The guy we're going to see first off this morning, erm...

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is, he's involved, well, he was driving at the back of the convoy

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and it's the vehicle that has allegedly caused this accident.

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The vehicle that was at the front, the front of the three vehicles,

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was a sports car.

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We suspect the whole reason for this accident claim,

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this insurance claim, was in order to get the sports car done up.

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There was large repair costs that were submitted to the insurers,

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erm, PI, personal injury claims,

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replacement vehicle hire,

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credit exchange and also even right the way down to recovery costs,

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but it totalled somewhere in the region of £80,000.

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They believe the first suspect on the list

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was the driver of the car at the back of the convoy

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who supposedly caused the crash by driving into the vehicle in front.

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It's 6:30 in the morning

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when Mark and his team arrive at the address.

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The father of the suspect comes to meet them

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and wants to know what's going on.

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'City of London Police...'

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We want to speak to him about an insurance fraud we believe he's involved in.

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-That's all the detail I can give you, sir.

-Right.

-OK?

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I can speak to him more about it, but I can't yourself.

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-I take you are, sorry, you are his father?

-Yeah.

-OK.

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Does he reside here, sir? He is?

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Well, we need to speak to him, sir.

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He reveals the first suspect is in the house

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and the man in question eventually comes to talk to Mark.

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We need to speak to you today, OK, in relation to a matter that's been referred to us,

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in relation to what we suspect is an insurance fraud.

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They take him down to the local police station for questioning.

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With two arrests still to be made, IFED gets back on the road.

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He's just been booked in and just been put in a cell.

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He just came out with it, indicated that he knew what it was all about

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and said that he didn't see any point in lying about any involvement.

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So I don't know what he's going to say in interview,

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we obviously didn't question him any further,

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but he asked if we were picking up any of the others

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that were "involved" were his exact words.

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So what exactly that means, I don't know.

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Next stop for the IFED team is a property where they believe

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the second and third suspects will both be.

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The second suspect was a passenger

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and put in a claim for personal injury.

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The third suspect is the owner of the sports car.

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We think all these lads have got together, basically,

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come up with this plan and decided to make up this accident

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and put in numerous claims from it.

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They arrive at the property and are hopeful both suspects will be in.

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After securing the back of the building, they prepare to enter through the front.

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It's vital to the success of the case that they find and question the two suspects.

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But will they be at home?

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-How many plants have you got?

-Nine in there.

-Nine?

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I'm further arresting you on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis.

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Criminal gangs that commit car insurance fraud

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will stop at nothing to make a quick buck

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and they don't care whose lives they're putting at risk.

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One such gang operated on the outskirts of London

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and what they did endangered countless road users.

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They came to the attention of Detective Inspector Dave Hindmarsh

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who heads up a special Met Police Traffic Unit.

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His team was set up to combat the organised criminal gangs

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who commit car insurance fraud through road traffic collisions.

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My team came across the gang for Operation Coronado

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initially as a result of anonymous Crimestoppers information.

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The gang was using a dangerous technique

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the Met traffic unit are well used to seeing on the UK's roads - the "induced collision".

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First, the gang choose a victim.

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Then they move their two cars into position in front of the target.

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Gang car number one then slams on its brakes.

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Gang car two reacts by braking hard, resulting in a rear-end shunt for the victim.

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Gang car one then turns off at the next possible turning, pretending to be unaware of the crash.

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It's highly dangerous

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and the consequences for other road users could be deadly.

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Operation Coronado was launched to gather proof of what was going on.

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The Traffic Unit set up video surveillance.

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It wasn't long before the intelligence they gathered

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showed the gang was working in a very specific area.

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They go round the roundabout on the A127 some nine times

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looking for their victim, their target.

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The surveillance footage shows a black Golf and a green Saab

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circling for over six minutes as they choose their prey.

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Eventually they identify a suitable innocent driver.

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The Golf brakes and turns left away from the Saab.

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The Saab brakes, overexaggerates its braking and stops.

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Unfortunately, the young girl driving

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crashed into the back of their Saab

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and then she in turn was hit by a white van.

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The crash happens on the other side of the roundabout

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and the covert filming team just catches the end of the incident.

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I think they chose that particular victim because she was driving a relatively nice car.

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And she was a lone female,

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so she's not going to cause them any problems

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and the likelihood is that she would be insured.

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What was planned as a shunt

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had in seconds become a multi-vehicle pile-up.

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I think the whole experience for the young girl

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was shocking and terrifying,

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not only to crash into a vehicle, but then to be hit from the rear.

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But that's of zero concern to the gang,

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who waste no time in collecting their victim's insurance details

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so they can make a claim.

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To make the case stand up, the police needed to prove beyond doubt

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there was a link between the cars being driven by the gang members.

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If we can show that there was association before or after between both parties,

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then it assists us and it's quite crucial

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in providing the best possible evidence to the jury.

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The surveillance continued

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and before long, the gang is spotted

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trawling the roads for another victim.

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This time they are filmed inducing a collision on a motorway slip road.

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Car one brakes hard, car two brakes even harder

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and the target can't avoid crashing into the back of them.

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To ensure they have indisputable evidence, the police unit continue to trail the gang.

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Eventually, their persistence pays off

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when both cars stop at a petrol station car park.

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The meeting up at the petrol station shows association.

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It shows that the driver of the Golf

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and the driver of the Saab are known to each other,

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they've met up before,

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they've then caused a crash, which clearly is no random act.

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This was an induced collision

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done so that they could commit fraud against the insurance industry.

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The evidence was impossible to argue with

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and the gang was brought to justice with 12 defendants sentenced to a total of 19 years and 6 months.

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It was another successful result for the traffic unit,

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but there are still other fraudsters

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on the roads who care nothing for the safety of others.

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It's a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt.

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And my team will use every method available in order to catch them.

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And that will be overt tactics, covert tactics,

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the use of the helicopter, the use of surveillance teams.

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Any tactic that we can think of,

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we will use to catch these people.

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Technology is increasingly used to detect fraud,

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but in some cases, it's used to create fraud, too.

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However, insurers are working hard to stay one click ahead

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as this next case demonstrates.

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Robin Reames is the Chief Claims Officer for an insurance company.

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They were contacted by a policyholder

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who reported an incident involving their vehicle.

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The claim was for damage to a vehicle, it was a total loss.

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So quite significant damage to a car, approximately £10,000 worth,

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which would mean it was not something that we would repair.

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Photos of the wreckage were sent to the insurer,

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standard procedure for a claim of this size.

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But there was something about the images that was less than picture perfect.

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Our suspicions were aroused

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because the photos that we received of the damage to the car

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didn't look right.

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What struck us was the damage to the front of the car.

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The quality of the photos around the damage

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to the tyres and the front wheels

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were not consistent

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with the photo quality of the rest of the car.

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The case clearly required further scrutiny,

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so the insurer called in an expert to put the evidence under the microscope.

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Grant Roughley is the forensic IT consultant

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asked to examine the images.

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There are several methods we can look at

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to see if these images have been tampered with in any way.

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A lot of these images come from

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digital cameras and they hold a signature to the images,

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similar to a fingerprint,

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which tells you where the picture was taken,

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what date, time, what exposure levels.

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In this case, digital fingerprints of these images were removed.

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The absence of this kind of data

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indicates that images have been altered from their original form.

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This didn't necessary prove that the photos had been tampered with,

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but then other evidence started to mount up.

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The images varied from very low-resolution images

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to very high-resolution images,

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which wasn't consistent with a general use of a digital camera.

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The inconsistency is particularly noticeable

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in this picture of the interior.

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As you can see here, it's a very high-resolution image

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consistent with a professional photographer.

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For somebody to take this type of shot would take two or three hours.

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The discrepancies continued in other shots.

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As you can see, the alloy wheel here is very rugby-shaped

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as opposed to a normal wheel as you would expect, round.

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Especially with the wall of the tyre,

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it's very thick at the top here,

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and then very thin

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and goes virtually to nothing

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on the back of the alloy wheel there.

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This photo has been manipulated to show an alloy wheel,

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which maybe wasn't on the vehicle at the time of the incident.

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It seems to be a better standard of alloy wheel

0:19:150:19:17

than probably the one originally on the vehicle.

0:19:170:19:20

Not only were the pictures being altered,

0:19:200:19:23

new elements were actually being added on.

0:19:230:19:26

And the evidence of manipulation didn't stop there.

0:19:260:19:29

The airbags in this image are quite visible,

0:19:290:19:33

and as you can see from this image here,

0:19:330:19:37

there's no airbags visible in the windscreen.

0:19:370:19:40

Which leads to an unavoidable conclusion.

0:19:400:19:44

It could be possible that the person who's claiming for this vehicle

0:19:440:19:48

is trying to insinuate it was a high-impact collision,

0:19:480:19:51

or hoping to have the vehicle written off.

0:19:510:19:53

The evidence of fraud was stacking up.

0:19:530:19:56

Our final conclusion with regards to the analysis of these photographs

0:19:560:20:00

were in fact that they were poorly edited

0:20:000:20:03

and as such, we believe that they were used

0:20:030:20:07

in order to put forward a fraudulent claim.

0:20:070:20:10

A report of the examination was compiled

0:20:100:20:13

-and passed back to the insurer.

-The expert found

0:20:130:20:15

that those images had been tampered with,

0:20:150:20:19

they'd been altered, they'd been taken from different cameras,

0:20:190:20:22

and that the images that we had been sent showing damage to the car

0:20:220:20:26

was not actually a true reflection of that damage.

0:20:260:20:30

A fraudulent claim was clearly being made,

0:20:300:20:33

but on investigation, the insurer found that the driver

0:20:330:20:36

of the wrecked vehicle was totally innocent.

0:20:360:20:39

So they looked again at the other people involved in the claim,

0:20:390:20:42

the salvage yard and the assessor.

0:20:420:20:45

What they uncovered next indicated a much more organised outfit.

0:20:450:20:48

The salvage yard sent the assessor some photographs of the actual car.

0:20:520:20:57

The assessor then doctored those

0:20:570:21:00

to superimpose damage from a similar vehicle

0:21:000:21:04

that had more significant damage done to it

0:21:040:21:07

in order that that vehicle would be written off.

0:21:070:21:10

When the real case was it probably was a car

0:21:100:21:12

that could have been repaired at little value.

0:21:120:21:15

The salvage agent would then be free to repair it

0:21:150:21:17

and make a significant profit on selling it on later.

0:21:170:21:20

Although the case didn't result in a prosecution, the insurer recovered their losses.

0:21:200:21:25

They're also able to recognise and combat this type of fraud more easily.

0:21:250:21:30

I think what surprised us was the lengths that someone would go to

0:21:300:21:33

to doctor a photo and actually not do it terribly well.

0:21:330:21:35

But it is an indication of the lengths that many people will go to to commit fraud

0:21:350:21:40

and the way that we, Swiftcover, need to have highly-trained people

0:21:400:21:46

to identify potential fraud,

0:21:460:21:48

new methods, new ways of working,

0:21:480:21:51

new scams, and that is a constant challenge for us.

0:21:510:21:56

GULLS SCREECH

0:21:580:22:00

IFED has come to arrest

0:22:000:22:01

three suspects who they believe are connected to a suspected car insurance fraud.

0:22:010:22:06

They arrested the first one early that morning and are pursuing the remaining two suspects.

0:22:060:22:11

The trail has led them to a second property.

0:22:110:22:14

The IFED team is optimistic they will find both suspects inside.

0:22:140:22:18

Right, we're in.

0:22:250:22:27

As they enter the property, they are met by the second suspect.

0:22:270:22:31

All right, fella.

0:22:310:22:33

Firstly, OK, I need to speak to you today regarding an allegation that's been made

0:22:330:22:37

where it's alleged that you are involved in a conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.

0:22:370:22:42

Right? Let me... Hear me out, yeah?

0:22:440:22:47

OK, so in relation to that offence and that allegation,

0:22:470:22:49

I'm arresting you on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud

0:22:490:22:52

and we'll be looking to interview you later on this morning.

0:22:520:22:55

Although there's no sign of the third suspect in the flat,

0:22:550:22:59

they make an important discovery of another kind.

0:22:590:23:03

How many plants you got? Nine?

0:23:030:23:06

I'm further arresting you on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis.

0:23:060:23:09

In relation to that offence, I remind you, you are under caution.

0:23:090:23:13

-Yeah, sorry, mate.

-All right. No problem.

0:23:130:23:15

It's all right.

0:23:170:23:18

Well, that's the gentleman who we believe submitted the PI claim.

0:23:230:23:26

He was the passenger. We've gone in there and I've arrested him

0:23:260:23:29

in relation to that conspiracy to defraud.

0:23:290:23:32

And we've uncovered there a small, little cultivation of cannabis sort of factory, if you like,

0:23:320:23:37

he's got the air-con machine and everything else.

0:23:370:23:40

He's got about, he said, nine plants in there,

0:23:400:23:42

so he's cultivating cannabis.

0:23:420:23:44

Although he says it's for his own personal use,

0:23:440:23:46

that's quite a lot of cannabis.

0:23:460:23:48

Sorry?

0:23:510:23:52

Happy birthday for yesterday.

0:23:520:23:53

Take a seat. I'll try and drive carefully.

0:23:590:24:03

The search continues for the third suspect, the owner of the sports car.

0:24:090:24:13

We're on our way now to a company address

0:24:130:24:16

where we know that one of

0:24:160:24:18

the individuals involved in this fake claim is...

0:24:180:24:21

It's his place of work, basically.

0:24:210:24:24

They're like the body repair shop.

0:24:240:24:26

And a lot of the repairs to the damage and things

0:24:260:24:29

were meant to have been done through this company.

0:24:290:24:31

So, we've got two arrested so far, as you're aware,

0:24:310:24:36

we're going to go and pick up this guy who'll be the third.

0:24:360:24:39

The first chap this morning has been interviewed,

0:24:390:24:41

Scott's interviewed him this morning,

0:24:410:24:43

he's just come out of interview, and the guy has admitted on interview

0:24:430:24:47

that this accident is a complete fabrication,

0:24:470:24:51

two of the vehicles were taken to the scene where the accident was meant to happen

0:24:510:24:55

and one was deliberately driven down the side of the other.

0:24:550:24:57

The rest of the damage was then caused back at the body repair shop in the yard there

0:24:570:25:02

and they've caused damage to two of the other vehicles,

0:25:020:25:05

and then just got together, put the claim in, alleging that the accident has occurred.

0:25:050:25:11

So that's quite good progress for us.

0:25:110:25:13

With the first suspect's confession, the case is looking strong,

0:25:130:25:18

but IFED still needs to arrest and question the third suspect.

0:25:180:25:22

MECHANICAL WHIRRING

0:25:250:25:27

Is this him? Hello, mate?

0:25:300:25:32

I'm Mark Forster from City of London Police, OK?

0:25:320:25:35

Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, OK?

0:25:350:25:37

I need to speak to you about an allegation that's been made,

0:25:370:25:40

where... The allegation is that you've conspired with others to defraud an insurance company.

0:25:400:25:47

BLEEP!

0:25:470:25:49

So in relation to that, I have to arrest you, OK?

0:25:490:25:51

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned,

0:25:510:25:55

something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

0:25:550:25:59

That's in relation, like I say, to conspiracy to defraud. OK? We'll have to take you away now.

0:25:590:26:03

Is your boss here, or are you in charge?

0:26:030:26:05

I'm in charge, yeah.

0:26:050:26:06

Right, let's stick you in the cage, mate. All right, jump in.

0:26:090:26:12

It's gone very, very, smoothly.

0:26:120:26:14

Very pleased that we've had one interview where the suspect

0:26:140:26:17

has admitted that this is completely a fraud.

0:26:170:26:20

And I fully expect that these three individuals

0:26:200:26:25

will be charged in the very near future.

0:26:250:26:28

So the message is, if you are committing this type of fraud

0:26:300:26:33

and you continue to do so,

0:26:330:26:34

then you'll probably get a visit

0:26:340:26:36

from officers from the City of London Police.

0:26:360:26:38

All three men were later charged and sentenced.

0:26:380:26:42

One man was jailed for 14 months...

0:26:440:26:46

Another was sent to prison for six months.

0:26:480:26:51

And the last male... received a six-month jail term,

0:26:510:26:55

suspended for 12 months.

0:26:550:26:56

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