0:00:02 > 0:00:05Insurance fraud in the UK has hit epidemic levels.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08It's costing us over £2 billion every year.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11That's almost £6 million every day.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injuries,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19even phantom pets.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and every year, it's adding over £50 to your insurance bill.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29But insurers are fighting back,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32exposing 15 fake claims every hour,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35armed with covert surveillance systems...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Subject out the vehicle.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..sophisticated data analysis techniques...
0:00:41 > 0:00:44..and a highly skilled dedicated police unit.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Police! Don't move. Stay where you are.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49They're catching the criminals red-handed.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50Just don't lie to us.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54All those con men, scammers and cheats on the fiddle are now
0:00:54 > 0:00:58caught in the act and claimed and shamed.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Coming up, a fake insurance company that targets the elderly...
0:01:22 > 0:01:25..undercover filming lands a conman in the sin bin...
0:01:26 > 0:01:29A further twist was that it was reported that he was
0:01:29 > 0:01:32suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35..and IFED carries out a raid on a suspect.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38You're never sure, exactly, what you're going to find
0:01:38 > 0:01:40until you actually go through that door.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Where would we be without a good bit of TV?
0:01:50 > 0:01:53We're a nation addicted to our set-top boxes and many of us
0:01:53 > 0:01:57rely on product insurance to protect us if anything goes wrong.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01So, it's a good job there are people like Jonathan Stockting,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04who was determined to make sure none of us missed out
0:02:04 > 0:02:05on the shows we loved.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09He ran a Swansea-based company that came under
0:02:09 > 0:02:12the remit of Trading Standards' Rhys Harris.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15The company was selling
0:02:15 > 0:02:18a service package, maintenance package,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20sometimes it was called insurance, but, basically,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24it was a product that, if you had a Sky system and it broke down,
0:02:24 > 0:02:29they claimed that they would come out and fix it between two and six hours.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Sounds like a great idea,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34a service that will have you back up and running, or rather lounging,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37within six hours, except, guess what?
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Yep, it didn't exist.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47The company operated by cold calling consumers and the only information
0:02:47 > 0:02:50they had when they would cold call them is the consumer's name,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53address and also their telephone number.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Despite the fact they had so little information on the customers,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02their sales patter was pretty convincing.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06They gave the impression that they were Sky, they were phoning from Sky.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08But it was a total fabrication.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11None of the companies that the bogus insurance company
0:03:11 > 0:03:14pretended to represent had anything to do with the scam.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Instead of duping insurance companies with fraudulent claims,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Stockting had taken it to the next level by setting up
0:03:30 > 0:03:34a fake insurance company of his own that preyed on innocent people.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38The victims were carefully targeted with fraudsters deliberately calling
0:03:38 > 0:03:42during the day to catch elderly and vulnerable people at home.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Some of the calls were very distressing to us listening,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48but it was more distressing listening to the consumer reacting
0:03:48 > 0:03:50to the way that they've been treated.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58SALES PERSON: Sorry?
0:04:01 > 0:04:02Yes?
0:04:04 > 0:04:05Right...
0:04:14 > 0:04:18You'd hear these consumers being quite fast in not wanting to
0:04:18 > 0:04:21give their card details over the phone, however,
0:04:21 > 0:04:26they would then eventually fold and give their card details over
0:04:26 > 0:04:29to these sales staff who quite cunningly got it out of them.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51With such an aggressive sales technique,
0:04:51 > 0:04:52many people were confused,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56hounded and even intimidated into buying the fake insurance.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Their general tactic was to bully, so if they could get
0:05:00 > 0:05:03someone elderly on the phone, they would push and push.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07In some cases, it was quite disgusting the way the sales staff
0:05:07 > 0:05:11would actually speak to these elderly and vulnerable consumers.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27- SALES PERSON:- Oh, my...!
0:05:27 > 0:05:32A team of 20 scammers worked at the bogus insurance call centre.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34They showed no mercy to their victims,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37bullying people into handing over their money.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56It was fraud on an industrial scale.
0:05:56 > 0:06:01Among the 7,500 customers targeted by the group was Carol Oatey.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05Well, I was cold called out of the blue.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08I think it went along the lines of,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12"We noticed that your satellite insurance has expired,"
0:06:12 > 0:06:14though how they would know that, I don't know,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16I think that's just an opening line.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17PHONE RINGS 'And told me how
0:06:17 > 0:06:19'expensive it would be...' Hello?
0:06:19 > 0:06:23'..to call an engineer out without satellite insurance.'
0:06:23 > 0:06:26And I said, "Yes, OK."
0:06:26 > 0:06:28And gave them my bank details!
0:06:29 > 0:06:31The fraudsters persuaded their victims to sign up to
0:06:31 > 0:06:35a yearly payment of between £70 and £100,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39with the promise that their satellite box would be covered 24/7.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43I mean, £80 might not seem like a lot of money to some people,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48but when you're a pensioner, it is a lot of money.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51In order to appear genuine,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54the company sent out paperwork to their victims.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58It was at this point that Carol realised something was wrong.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01I went to file the paperwork and realised that
0:07:01 > 0:07:06I already had perfectly good insurance that hadn't expired.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I don't think I've ever felt so embarrassed in my life,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13really, to think that I could have been taken in, but it really
0:07:13 > 0:07:19was a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'd been conned.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Sadly, Carol wasn't the only one.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24In a two-year period, the callous fake insurance crew
0:07:24 > 0:07:27netted half a million pounds.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Anybody who thinks that conning the elderly
0:07:31 > 0:07:36into giving away their money is a good way of earning a living
0:07:36 > 0:07:37should think again.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42But the net was closing in.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43Unbeknownst to the scammers,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47victims had alerted Swansea Trading Standards.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49They started to investigate
0:07:49 > 0:07:51and identified the three men behind the company -
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Paul Delamare,
0:07:53 > 0:07:54Jordan Diment
0:07:54 > 0:07:56and the boss, Jonathan Stockting.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Evidence of organised criminal fraud mounted as more
0:08:00 > 0:08:04and more victims came forward, and Swansea Trading Standards
0:08:04 > 0:08:07decided it was time to pay the call centre a visit.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11We struggled to get through a locked door.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Once we got in through that door, sales staff went
0:08:16 > 0:08:18and rubbed their name off a board.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Some of the staff tried evading us going down the back stairs,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25and then, when we were there, the fire alarm went off.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27I went to see the security guard in charge of the building
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and he basically told us
0:08:29 > 0:08:32someone had set a false alarm off on the floor below us.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33Once in the property,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Trading Standards wanted to get to the hub of the fraudulent
0:08:36 > 0:08:40activity and needed to access the computers kept behind locked doors.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43It took a locksmith three hours to break in.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45We got into the room,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48our computer forensic examiner looked at the computers
0:08:48 > 0:08:52and came back to us at a later date after we'd left the premises
0:08:52 > 0:08:58and told us that someone had remotely accessed that computer and deleted
0:08:58 > 0:09:01everything and tried to download something called Evidence Eliminator.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04The operation had been stopped in its tracks.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08It was the last Trading Standards would hear from them...for a while.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Coming up, the fraudsters restart their fake insurance company again,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18but Trading Standards decide to shut them down once and for all.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21This time we done a faster entry warrant where we took
0:09:21 > 0:09:23the police on entry.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Everybody was arrested where they were sat.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34It's thought that as many as one in four people
0:09:34 > 0:09:36have suffered a personal injury,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39a figure that won't come as a surprise to the insurance industry,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42which is seeing a dramatic increase in these types of claims.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50More than a million of these claims come from workplace accidents
0:09:50 > 0:09:54like the one that David Ribchester suffered in February 2006.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56DCI Dave Wood, who heads up
0:09:56 > 0:10:00the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, worked on the case.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Mr Ribchester reported to his insurance company that he'd
0:10:03 > 0:10:06suffered an accident at work.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10He said he was up a set of ladders that collapsed underneath him...
0:10:11 > 0:10:14..and as a result of the fall, he's injured both his wrists
0:10:14 > 0:10:18when he hit the ground and as a result of that accident,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21he suffered life-changing injuries.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25According to David, the ladder had fallen on both of his wrists,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29which, he claimed, left him unable to do even the most basic tasks.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35One was driving a car, two was playing his favourite sport, rugby,
0:10:35 > 0:10:37and lastly, and perhaps most important of all,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39he couldn't pick up his small daughter...
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and this was the worst thing for him, so he told us.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46But David's injuries weren't just physical,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49as John Beadle from insurers RSA explains.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53A further twist was that it was reported that he was suffering from
0:10:53 > 0:10:58post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of the accident.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02With such serious physical and emotional damage,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05David's claim stacked up to a huge sum.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10He claimed ultimately for £900,000 or thereabouts
0:11:10 > 0:11:16in terms of compensation to compensate for his loss of earnings,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and for the care that he would need going forward in his life.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24It was a massive compensation bill, one which would have taken care of
0:11:24 > 0:11:26the 31-year-old for the rest of his life.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31This case is one of the biggest single instances that I've
0:11:31 > 0:11:34investigated in its operation so far.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Almost £1 million going to one person, for him,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39would almost be like a lottery win.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41INDISTINCT CHATTERING
0:11:41 > 0:11:44As with any large insurance claim, the insurers looked into it
0:11:44 > 0:11:48thoroughly and they didn't like what they saw.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50There came a point of time
0:11:50 > 0:11:54when we began to doubt the truth around the extent
0:11:54 > 0:11:59of Mr Ribchester's alleged injuries and incapacity,
0:11:59 > 0:12:04and so we began to investigate and, as part of that investigation,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07we deployed some surveillance.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10All seemed fine at first, but then they noticed something which
0:12:10 > 0:12:12blew his claim out of the water.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18It showed a person going normally about their daily life
0:12:18 > 0:12:23and there wasn't any apparent incapacity or injury that
0:12:23 > 0:12:27prevented him leading a normal life.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29During the course of the surveillance,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Mr Ribchester was seen driving his car.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34He told his insurers he couldn't drive a car.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38He was also seen shopping in a supermarket.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42Again, he told his insurers he couldn't carry out that task.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45On Mr Ribchester's birthday in July 2009,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48he was actually filmed hosting a barbecue at his home address,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51during which he erected some garden furniture,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55he greeted guests with a firm handshake of his right hand.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59He was seen flipping burgers on the actual barbecue itself
0:12:59 > 0:13:02and also, several times, picking up his young daughter
0:13:02 > 0:13:05with his supposedly severely injured right hand.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11The footage proved that David was lying about his injuries
0:13:11 > 0:13:13in order to inflate the size of his claim,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17but the surveillance didn't stop there, and what the police saw next
0:13:17 > 0:13:20revealed the shocking extent of his fraud.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23The biggest nail in Mr Ribchester's coffin was actually
0:13:23 > 0:13:27the surveillance footage of him playing rugby at his local club,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31so there he is, grabbing the ball,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34gripping it tightly, fending off tackles,
0:13:34 > 0:13:35charging along the grass turf,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39things that he said he couldn't do, would never be able to do for
0:13:39 > 0:13:42the rest of his days, clearly captured on surveillance footage,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46looking in quite fine fettle running across the rugby pitch.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50That surveillance footage was, at our request,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55shown to the medical experts who, as a result, said that,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59in their opinion, that he was grossly exaggerating or making
0:13:59 > 0:14:04up the level of injury or incapacity that he was suffering from.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Clearly, David was trying it on.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Armed with a wealth of footage,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11the insurers decided to tackle the fraud
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and pass the case to the police.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17IFED detectives arrested Mr Ribchester at his home address
0:14:17 > 0:14:21in the northeast of England and some months later, he appeared at
0:14:21 > 0:14:25the Old Bailey, where he was charged with fraud by false representation.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30The judge in fact said that this man was greedy
0:14:30 > 0:14:31and he also went on to say that,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34as a result of greedy men like Mr Ribchester,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37that other genuine claimants could sometimes
0:14:37 > 0:14:40be put under scrutiny as a result of his selfish actions.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44David Ribchester's foul play had well and truly
0:14:44 > 0:14:46landed him in the sin bin.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49For exaggerating his claim, the penalty was eight months.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53During IFED's operation, we'd seemed to come across two different
0:14:53 > 0:14:56types of fraudsters in this insurance fraud arena.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58One would be the organised criminals,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00the gangsters that do it for a living,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03and the other lot I would describe as greedy people that see
0:15:03 > 0:15:06an opportunity, potentially a meal ticket or a lottery win,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08like Mr Ribchester.
0:15:08 > 0:15:09Ironically,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12if Mr Ribchester had been honest about the extent of his injuries,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16he would have been legally entitled to about £250,000 compensation.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18But because he lied,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22the whole of his claim was thrown out and he was left with no money,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25a prison sentence and a criminal record.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36Still to come, a rude driver's insurance claim hits the skids
0:15:36 > 0:15:38thanks to CCTV evidence...
0:15:38 > 0:15:41There's no evidence of a slow joining of traffic, and
0:15:41 > 0:15:44as far as the creeping along goes, I'll let you be the judge of that.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50..and victims of the fake insurance company see justice served.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55And how dare they...how dare they do that to the elderly!
0:16:00 > 0:16:04The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, or IFED for short,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06is an insurance scammer's worst nightmare.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10There is a dedicated 40-strong unit that work 24/7
0:16:10 > 0:16:14hunting down insurance fraudsters.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16The team were set up over two years ago to crack down on
0:16:16 > 0:16:19insurance crime in the UK.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Is there anything here that shouldn't be here...
0:16:21 > 0:16:22that we're going to find?
0:16:22 > 0:16:26In that time, it's made over 450 arrests
0:16:26 > 0:16:28and seen over 200 prosecutions.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33If it's a fraud and it's in insurance, then it may well
0:16:33 > 0:16:37come to IFED's attention and IFED will take the necessary action.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Police officers! Can you come to the door, please?
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Today, DS Mark Forster and his IFED team are on their way to arrest
0:16:50 > 0:16:53a suspect in what they believe is a case of insurance fraud.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57It all started when the suspect racked up so many parking fines
0:16:57 > 0:17:00that bailiffs impounded their car.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04She subsequently reported to police that her car had been stolen
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and also made a claim to the insurance company
0:17:07 > 0:17:09in relation to the theft of that vehicle.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Mark has deliberately organised an early-morning raid
0:17:12 > 0:17:15so there's more chance of catching the suspect at home.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17And he's well aware of the challenges that
0:17:17 > 0:17:21his team could face when they go in to make the arrest.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23You're never sure exactly what's behind a door.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26You can do your intelligence checks to give you a good indication
0:17:26 > 0:17:29of what you're going to find and who you're going to find,
0:17:29 > 0:17:33but until you actually go through that door, you're never sure.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34- RADIO:- 4-1-0...
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Yeah, can you show us on the scene, please? Car 10-8-4.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41They arrive at the suspect's address and get into position.
0:17:41 > 0:17:42The little one.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43Oh, right, OK.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Mark's hoping that the early start means the suspect is
0:17:46 > 0:17:48more likely to be at home.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- Good morning.- 'And they are.'
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Police. I'd just like to speak to you inside, please.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00- Come in.- Yeah? Thanks very much.- Thank you.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02INDISTINCT CHATTER INSIDE
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Just one of my colleagues come in as well.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07The cameras stay outside.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10At five minutes past seven, I'm arresting you on suspicion of
0:18:10 > 0:18:12committing fraud by false representation.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15You don't have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do
0:18:15 > 0:18:18not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?
0:18:21 > 0:18:26With the arrest made, the operation has got off to a good start.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29I don't think she was expecting us at all. She was quite surprised.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33My colleague, when he arrested her, she had no idea what it was about.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36But the arrest is only the beginning.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38The success of the operation relies on finding evidence
0:18:38 > 0:18:40of the alleged fraud.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45IFED are searching for paperwork that relates to the vehicle.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Luckily, the suspect is proving to be co-operative.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50We've asked her...basically,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52so we don't have to go through the whole house,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55where she keeps all her documents, correspondence,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and she's indicated to us, in her bedroom.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03And that's just where they find potential evidence.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06This is some of the evidence that we've seized from the property,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10from the bedroom of the lady we've arrested this morning.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Unusually for the IFED team, the potential evidence in this case
0:19:13 > 0:19:17is paper-based and doesn't involve phones or computers.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Most IFED raids last several hours, but, in this case,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Mark's thankful that it's been relatively straightforward.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Very happy. It's all gone very smoothly.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32We're, you know, in and out of the address within, sort of, 45 minutes.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36She's now on her way back to the City of London, where she'll be
0:19:36 > 0:19:40interviewed in relation to the fraud that we believe that she's committed.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Mark's pleased with how the day has gone.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47The arrest has been made, potential evidence has been collected
0:19:47 > 0:19:51and the investigation can now move on to the next stage.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00There's nothing more frustrating than coming home from
0:20:00 > 0:20:05a hard day's work, turning on the TV and it's broken.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09But don't worry - if you've got insurance on it, you'll be sorted.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Well, not if you're one of the 7,500 people who were cold called
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and bullied into buying a bogus maintenance package by
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Jonathan Stockting and his crew,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20who'd set up a fake insurance company.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32The group targeted elderly and vulnerable people
0:20:32 > 0:20:35with insurance deals that they didn't want, need or,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37in some cases, already had.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I mean, £80 might not seem like a lot of money to some people,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45but when you're a pensioner,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48it is a lot of money.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51After a mountain of complaints at Swansea Trading Standards,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55the team paid the phony operation a visit.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57We got into the room, our computer forensic examiner
0:20:57 > 0:21:00looked at the computers and told us that someone had
0:21:00 > 0:21:05remotely accessed that computer and deleted everything.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10With the fake insurance company closed,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Trading Standards thought that would be the end of it,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16but it wasn't long before the complaints started to pour in again.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20It appeared that the company was still operating.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24And at this point, we decided the only thing we could do
0:21:24 > 0:21:26was to raid the company again.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31'And this time we done the faster entry warrant,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33'where we took the police.'
0:21:35 > 0:21:39On entry, everybody was arrested where they were sat,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41not allowing anybody to interfere with
0:21:41 > 0:21:43any of the evidence that we were going to gather.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52This was the largest operation that Swansea had been a part of.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54It involved 50 police officers,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56along with various teams from the council.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Despite this, the scammers had shredded all paper evidence,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03but the key to the crime was their calls.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08We found call recordings, but those calls certainly helped us
0:22:08 > 0:22:10a great deal with our investigation.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39What was perhaps more shocking was that this wasn't just
0:22:39 > 0:22:44a few fraudsters, but a team of around 20, all knowing that,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48every day, every call was conning an elderly person out of money.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55And you had a big sales floor which was populated by all these staff
0:22:55 > 0:23:00and, probably, they were looking at up to 20 staff
0:23:00 > 0:23:02at some point in the business,
0:23:02 > 0:23:07and everybody in that business had to be aware of what was going on
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and was implicit in it, and it was all linked and all very loyal.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15The audio proved to be the killer piece of evidence that
0:23:15 > 0:23:18allowed the council to build a case against the scammers.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22They took Jonathan Stockting and 16 members of his team to court.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26It was the culmination of a two-year investigation into a scam
0:23:26 > 0:23:29that had covered most of Wales and parts of England,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32dialling in an estimated £500,000.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36The weight of evidence against them meant that the three main players
0:23:36 > 0:23:39pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to defraud.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Jonathan Stockting and Paul Delamare
0:23:41 > 0:23:44both got sentences of four years
0:23:44 > 0:23:47and Jordan Diment was given three-and-a-half years.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51In all, the judge handed down jail terms totalling
0:23:51 > 0:23:54almost 30 years to 14 people involved in the scam.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57When they were sentenced,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00we felt that this was justice for all those consumers who
0:24:00 > 0:24:02we either had to speak to or listen to
0:24:02 > 0:24:06and the way in which they'd been treated, it wasn't really
0:24:06 > 0:24:10about how much that we felt, it was justice had been served for them.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13People like Carol, who was a victim of the fraud.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16It's like mugging, isn't it? It's mugging over the phone,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19and you feel just as violated
0:24:19 > 0:24:23as if they'd hit you on the back of the neck.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25And how dare they...
0:24:25 > 0:24:27how dare they do that to the elderly!
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Buses are great.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Well, if you haven't got a car and, let's be honest,
0:24:39 > 0:24:43when you're behind the wheel, the last thing you want to see is this.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Being stuck behind a slow-moving bus can be frustrating.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53But for one driver, he thought it was well behind him,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56until it, allegedly, collided with him.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Lee Ingram of FirstGroup dealt with the incident.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02When the other vehicle driver has submitted his claim,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05he has stated that he was creeping forward
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and the bus has just hit him straight in the back of the car
0:25:08 > 0:25:11and damaged the side of his car at the same time.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14But when FirstGroup asked for the bus driver's version of events,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17he had a completely different take on it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20The bus driver in this case clearly says that he was passing
0:25:20 > 0:25:24the third-party vehicle, when the third party has given him the V-sign
0:25:24 > 0:25:27and then pulled across straight in front of the bus, leaving him
0:25:27 > 0:25:29no opportunity to avoid a collision.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31The two versions didn't add up.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34It was the claimant's word against the bus driver's,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38so Lee Ingram turned to his fail-safe back up - CCTV.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The footage clearly supports the bus driver's account.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Keep your eye on the red car on the left.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47The first thing you noticed from the footage is that
0:25:47 > 0:25:50the third party has clearly made up a set of circumstances to
0:25:50 > 0:25:53tell his solicitor in order to pursue his claim.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56There's no evidence of a slow joining of traffic, and
0:25:56 > 0:26:00as far as the creeping along goes, I'll let you be the judge of that.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03The red car can be seen driving at a normal speed,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06but from the camera on the side of the bus,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08the car pulls in front of it, cutting it up
0:26:08 > 0:26:10and clipping it on the front.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14CCTV footage is very important in circumstances such as this.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18The footage shows the car driver wasn't telling the truth,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20but it also reveals something else as well.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24To add further insult, the driver just did that!
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Oh, hang on a minute! What was that?
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Two fingers?
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Oh, no, it's just the one. Well, that's a bit rude!
0:26:36 > 0:26:39There doesn't really seem to be any logical reason as to why
0:26:39 > 0:26:42the other party should be so angry towards the bus driver.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45I know there are situations where some people
0:26:45 > 0:26:48just do not like buses getting in front of them in traffic.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52I think this is a particular case where the other driver has
0:26:52 > 0:26:55just decided to not let the bus through
0:26:55 > 0:26:58and has almost stuck his fingers up in a V-sign to say,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00"No way, mate! You're not coming past me!"
0:27:00 > 0:27:04and then decided to go for it in front of the bus.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07The claimant in this instance is clearly used to getting his own way.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11On this occasion, he has tried to muscle in on a 12-ton vehicle,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13which might not have been the wisest of moves(!)
0:27:13 > 0:27:17And his offensive behaviour didn't stop there.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20After the accident, the third party was very abusive towards
0:27:20 > 0:27:23the bus driver, constantly using foul language.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25He claimed to have a sore neck
0:27:25 > 0:27:28and yet refused to have an ambulance called for him.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Despite this, he later submitted a claim for multiple personal
0:27:31 > 0:27:36injuries but, surprisingly, nothing for damage to the car,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39because, as the CCTV showed, there was none.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42His motivation seemed to be personal gain.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45He was heard to say that he was intending to get a new car
0:27:45 > 0:27:47out of this incident.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50The only actual damage was a small scratch to the side of the bus.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The CCTV proved that the claimant wasn't owed compensation
0:27:54 > 0:27:56because he'd never actually been injured.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00In fact, it showed that he owed them for the damage to the bus.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02The claimant did not receive any compensation
0:28:02 > 0:28:04arising from this incident.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08We did however recover the £34.50 cost of repairing our vehicle.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10More proof that it's better to keep
0:28:10 > 0:28:13both hands firmly on the wheel when driving.