0:00:02 > 0:00:03Insurance fraud in the UK
0:00:03 > 0:00:05has hit epidemic levels.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08It's costing us over £1 billion every year.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10That's almost £3.5 million every day.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injuries, even phantom pets.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing
0:00:22 > 0:00:27and every year it's adding over £50 to your insurance bill.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29But insurers are fighting back,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33exposing just under 15 fake claims every hour.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Armed with covert surveillance systems...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Subject, out the vehicle.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..sophisticated data analysis techniques...
0:00:42 > 0:00:43POLICE!
0:00:43 > 0:00:45..and a number of highly-skilled police units...
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Police, don't move! Stay where you are!
0:00:47 > 0:00:49..they're catching the criminals red-handed.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Just don't lie to us.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54All those conmen, scammers and cheats on the fiddle are now
0:00:54 > 0:00:56caught in the act and claimed and shamed.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10Today, a travel insurance cheat gets a one-way ticket to jail.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Mr Gordan's criminality, as far as I'm concerned,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17currently stands at one of the most prolific fraudsters
0:01:17 > 0:01:19that I've managed to come into contact with.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25A badly-executed motor claim runs out of gas.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Unfortunately, they hadn't got their story straight.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30One talked about it happening in the afternoon,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and the other one said it happened in the evening.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34That's not possible.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37And a false injury demand gets the treatment it deserves.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39It didn't actually happen.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42You'd get thrown further off your seat if you had hiccups.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Holidays should be a time to kick back and relax,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55but if the break starts to breakdown then travel insurance is there,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59whether you need help during or even before the holiday.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Unlucky Umesh Gordan's holiday never even got off the ground.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10He had to cancel his entire trip after having paid in advance
0:02:10 > 0:02:12for flights and accommodation.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15He submitted a claim for a medical condition which meant he couldn't
0:02:15 > 0:02:18go on his holiday and it was in the region of £4,500.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Mathew Crawford-Thomas is Intana's Fraud Manager.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Intana is a claims management specialist handling claims
0:02:26 > 0:02:28on behalf of insurers.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31The company required Gordan to back up his claim
0:02:31 > 0:02:32with relevant paperwork.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38All the documentation that he'd submitted to us appeared legitimate.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39PHONE RINGS
0:02:39 > 0:02:43But then, a chance conversation led Mathew to seriously question
0:02:43 > 0:02:46the claimant's version of events.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51It was an off-the-cuff remark I made to a fellow fraud expert
0:02:51 > 0:02:55that enlightened me that Mr Gordan had actually submitted a claim
0:02:55 > 0:02:59in 2004 for very similar or the same circumstances.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Maybe Gordan was incredibly unfortunate
0:03:03 > 0:03:05when it came to summer holidays.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Either way, Mathew decided to take a closer look at the details.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Flights on all occasions for all the claims that we'd found were
0:03:13 > 0:03:17all legitimate flights with various airlines.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19So far so genuine,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22but it turned out that Gordan was winging it with the air travel.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25He was prepared to lose a little amount of money,
0:03:25 > 0:03:31anything between 80 to £150 on those flights because the accommodation
0:03:31 > 0:03:36that he was purportedly booking was absolutely and 100% fake.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38The flight tickets may have been real,
0:03:38 > 0:03:39but the accommodation bookings,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42which made up the bulk of the compensation pay-outs,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44were forged, as was the other paperwork.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49Mr Gordan submitted bank statements and medical certificates
0:03:49 > 0:03:52that, on the face of it, were legitimate.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55However, further investigations found out that these documents
0:03:55 > 0:03:57were, in fact, totally fraudulent.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02As far as Mathew was concerned, Gordan had never had any intention
0:04:02 > 0:04:05of going away and had never been ill.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Membership of the Insurance Fraud Investigators Group allowed Mathew
0:04:09 > 0:04:12to widen his investigation into Gordan.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14His findings were explosive.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17I uploaded data into their system of the fraud that I'd found
0:04:17 > 0:04:19for Umesh Gordan.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24This uncovered fraud dating back to 2004 with 28 claims
0:04:24 > 0:04:28for nine insurers amounting to over £113,000.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32This was jumbo-sized insurance fraud.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Every single claim from 2004 to 2011
0:04:35 > 0:04:38was for the exact same modus operandi.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42He sustained an injury and/or illness.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45All the doctors stamps were stamped by exactly the same doctor.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48These dodgy medical certificates were submitted
0:04:48 > 0:04:51to prove he was too unwell to go on holiday.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54The sickening scale of his fraud meant investigators started
0:04:54 > 0:04:56to look into his background.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58They subsequently found out that he actually worked for
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Leicester City Council Benefits Department.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05We then secured his holiday record for the period that we knew
0:05:05 > 0:05:07he was committing insurance fraud
0:05:07 > 0:05:11and it subsequently transpired that he didn't, in fact, have the
0:05:11 > 0:05:15right amount of time booked off for the holidays in question.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Far from being too ill to go on holiday, this proved Gordan
0:05:18 > 0:05:22had been well enough to work his normal nine to five in the office.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Mathew wasn't prepared to let Gordan just walk away
0:05:24 > 0:05:27from his travel insurance con.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30To find such an array of fraud dating back over such a long period
0:05:30 > 0:05:35of time, I felt that it was personal and needed to be brought to justice.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40I personally wrote 28 statements, which totalled over 60 pages.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44With such a weight of evidence,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Mathew's next move was to present his findings to IFED, the City
0:05:48 > 0:05:52of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54They arrested Mr Umesh Gordan, at which point
0:05:54 > 0:05:59he denied all criminality and said that it had looked like someone
0:05:59 > 0:06:04had either stolen his identification or actually stolen his laptop.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Trying to portray himself as a victim was just one more
0:06:06 > 0:06:09deception, but Gordan had reached the end of the road.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Upon further investigations of his laptop
0:06:15 > 0:06:19they found a drive with a big note on there saying insurance claims,
0:06:19 > 0:06:24it was at that point that Mr Gordan, I believe, gave up the ghost.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Having worked to exorcise the fraud from the start,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Mathew was there in person to see the conclusion of the case.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34I attended Leicester Crown Court for the sentencing of Mr Umesh Gordan.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39Justice was finally served in the £113,000 swindle.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43The judge gave him two years due to the fact that he had actually
0:06:43 > 0:06:46admitted fraud sooner rather than later.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49He is currently at Her Majesty's Pleasure.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Mr Gordan's criminality, as far as I'm concerned, currently
0:06:59 > 0:07:03stands at one of the most prolific fraudsters that I've
0:07:03 > 0:07:05managed to come into contact with.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Bearing in mind what he did for a living, for him to submit
0:07:08 > 0:07:11such a large amount of claims to the industry for such an elongated
0:07:11 > 0:07:16period of time is... it beggars belief, to be brutally honest.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19As does the decision to risk his successful career
0:07:19 > 0:07:21and reputation by committing fraud.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25It just goes to show that no matter what you do for a job,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28people are always prepared to commit insurance fraud
0:07:28 > 0:07:30if they think they can get away with it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31But not on my watch.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38Later...
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Bus CCTV puts the breaks on a claim for multiple serious injuries.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Do you see any contact with an eye or ribs of either of these
0:07:47 > 0:07:48people on the bus?
0:07:48 > 0:07:50No, it, cos it didn't happen.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55And justice is delivered to a postal fraudster.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Mr Coburn was quite upset after his arrest
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and I think that's probably because there was such damning
0:08:02 > 0:08:04evidence that we recovered on his computers.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Recent figures show that there were nearly 150,000 road traffic accidents
0:08:15 > 0:08:18reported last year in Great Britain.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Clearly, some fraudsters think they can slip in a false claim
0:08:21 > 0:08:23unnoticed.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28But without a watertight cover story their chances are sunk from the beginning.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Ursula Jallow is LV's Head of Financial Intelligence
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and Crime Solutions.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Ursula's team recently investigated a claim from a Mr Williams who said
0:08:39 > 0:08:43he'd been involved in an incident with an LV customer, Mr Lee.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45We had a call from Mr Williams to let us know that
0:08:45 > 0:08:47he'd had an accident.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52He explained it was a significant one and that it happened
0:08:52 > 0:08:55at a crossroads where he'd collided with a third party.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Mr Williams was driving east in his Vauxhall.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05Driving south was Mr Lee in his BMW.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12At a set of crossroads, it was alleged that both cars collided.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18As further details emerged, it became clear that LV was dealing
0:09:18 > 0:09:21with an extremely high value claim.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Within both of those cars at the time of the accident
0:09:23 > 0:09:26they alleged they both had three passengers each, so we actually
0:09:26 > 0:09:31had a total of eight personal injury claims as part of this claim.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33As a result of that, our actual total claim
0:09:33 > 0:09:37by the end of our investigation was around £500,000.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42That is a significant amount of money.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44It certainly is, but right from the start there were
0:09:44 > 0:09:47doubts about the £500,000 claim.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50A couple of things that absolutely didn't add up about this claim
0:09:50 > 0:09:55were, based on what was described, it was a significant accident...
0:09:58 > 0:09:59..with extensive damage.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05We had no witnesses and we had no emergency services called.
0:10:07 > 0:10:08That's unusual.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12You're telling me. Unusual if not suspicious.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16With the amount of money on the line,
0:10:16 > 0:10:21further investigation was needed and a forensic engineer was appointed.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Insurers use forensic engineers for a number of things, but mainly
0:10:25 > 0:10:28actually to clarify what happened in the event of an accident.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30They can tell by looking at the car
0:10:30 > 0:10:34whether the damage is consistent with the circumstances that
0:10:34 > 0:10:37have been described, and in this case they absolutely weren't
0:10:37 > 0:10:40consistent with what we were told about the accident.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45The location of the damage on the cars was significant.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The circumstances that were given
0:10:47 > 0:10:51meant that the damage had to be on one side.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54The left-hand side of Williams' car
0:10:54 > 0:10:57and the right-hand side of Lee's car.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Actually, having investigated and looked at the vehicles,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03the damage was on the opposite side of where it should have been.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07As shown on the photos.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12If that wasn't suspicious enough,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15there was also a major question mark over Lee's car.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18The vehicle at the time was not even driveable.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22There was a significant transmission problem
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and therefore it wouldn't have even been able
0:11:24 > 0:11:26to drive let alone being involved in an accident.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30The claimants were clearly trying to send LV in the wrong direction
0:11:30 > 0:11:33with a fake story about an accident that never happened.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Further evidence then emerged about the undriveable car.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45We identified that actually Mr Lee's car had previously been
0:11:45 > 0:11:50involved in an accident that caused exactly the same damage to the
0:11:50 > 0:11:52vehicle that was now in our claim.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54What a coincidence.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58For a car that couldn't be driven it was apparently getting around a lot.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01That claim was actually turned down with the other insurer
0:12:01 > 0:12:05because he'd failed to disclose some modifications about the car
0:12:05 > 0:12:06at the policy inception.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12So the previous claim had hit the skids too.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15LV went back to the claimant to get his side of the story.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18When we spoke to Mr Lee about the information that we'd
0:12:18 > 0:12:23found about the previous accident, he still absolutely denied
0:12:23 > 0:12:25any knowledge of that accident happening.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28More inconsistencies emerged when the passengers who were
0:12:28 > 0:12:31supposedly in the cars at the time were interviewed.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Unfortunately, they hadn't got their story straight.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36One talked about it happening in the afternoon,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and the other one said it happened in the evening.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40That's not possible.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43In fact, nothing about the claim was possible, and it showed.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45This wasn't the most sophisticated.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Their stories didn't match up, the cars weren't even
0:12:48 > 0:12:52driveable at the time of the claim. It just really was shoddy.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55LV was determined to take the case further.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57It was very clear that we needed to do a bit more
0:12:57 > 0:13:00than just not pay the claims.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02They referred the case to the City of London Police's
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department
0:13:04 > 0:13:06and the officers interviewed some of the people
0:13:06 > 0:13:09who'd supposedly been in the cars.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Three of the claimants confirmed that actually the accident
0:13:12 > 0:13:15didn't take place and their claims were absolutely fraudulent.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20These three were given cautions
0:13:20 > 0:13:23but the case against the five other men went to court.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Williams, the driver of the car insured with LV,
0:13:26 > 0:13:27received eight months,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31and Lee, the owner of the undriveable car got 12 months.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33LV were really pleased with this result.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37It's not OK to commit a fraudulent claim, and as a result
0:13:37 > 0:13:40of doing that you will be found out and you will be put in prison.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50DI Dave Hindmarsh of the Metropolitan Police's
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Roads and Transport Policing Command heads up an elite team of officers
0:13:54 > 0:13:56who combat vehicle crime.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59If you are convicted then you must expect
0:13:59 > 0:14:01that you will receive a custodial sentence.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05For all the millions invested in technology to detect
0:14:05 > 0:14:09insurance fraud, sometimes you can't beat good old-fashioned
0:14:09 > 0:14:11police work, like in this case.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15It came to us from one of our uniformed officers
0:14:15 > 0:14:17who was out on the street.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20He'd been doing routine patrols when he stopped the car.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31The car was registered to a London driver,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34in fact it was registered to the person who was driving it
0:14:34 > 0:14:40but the insurance policy was registered up north in Daventry,
0:14:40 > 0:14:47with our driver who was stopped at the time as a named driver.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50The car was ultimately not insured so it was seized.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55But this wasn't the end of the story, not by a long way.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Several days later, the same officer stopped another car
0:14:58 > 0:15:03virtually in the same circumstances in that it was a London car
0:15:03 > 0:15:07with a London driver, however the insurance policy
0:15:07 > 0:15:10was for an address in Daventry,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13again with this person as a named driver.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Either a lot of drivers were moving from Daventry to London
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and forgetting to update their details
0:15:18 > 0:15:20or something more sinister was going on.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29The officer who stopped the second car
0:15:29 > 0:15:32was immediately suspicious and started questioning the driver
0:15:32 > 0:15:36as to how they had obtained their insurance policy
0:15:36 > 0:15:41and that had come through in an advert on an online market site.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45The driver said that the advert was for an insurance broker,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48someone who, for a fee, uses their know-how
0:15:48 > 0:15:50to find cheap insurance for a client.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52It can be a legitimate business
0:15:52 > 0:15:56but when it's fraudulent, it's known as ghost broking.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59The ghost broking scam works because they offer cheap insurance.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Maybe it's to people who
0:16:01 > 0:16:07are high-risk drivers, multiple penalty points on their licence etc,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11and you will provide your details and the cash and you
0:16:11 > 0:16:15will not know what the ghost broker then sends to an insurance company.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19All you can be sure of is that the ghost broker will change
0:16:19 > 0:16:22small details so the quote from the insurer is cheaper
0:16:22 > 0:16:25than a policy with all the correct information.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29The significance of these two policies which highlighted
0:16:29 > 0:16:34this ghost broker both being in Daventry is simply it is
0:16:34 > 0:16:38a lower insurance premium, it's a lower risk area.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41The difference would be hundreds of pounds between a policy taken
0:16:41 > 0:16:45out in London and a policy taken out in places such as Daventry.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50To the unwitting customer, it appears that the broker has got them
0:16:50 > 0:16:52a much cheaper deal, even with the fee.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58The results of the investigation into the online advert
0:16:58 > 0:17:01provided the breakthrough that led to the next stage of the case.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05We were happy that we'd established through our various intelligence
0:17:05 > 0:17:10indices where the advert had been placed and who had placed it.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13That person was Milad Ahmed.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17In early 2013, Dave and his team moved in to shut down his fraud.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26Right, this morning we're off to an address in east London.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Dave and the team arrive before dawn to execute the search.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Raids are always scheduled early to ensure that the suspect is home.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Just keep cover on the rear, would you?
0:17:37 > 0:17:38It's important to guard the exits,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42in case a suspect decides to make a run for it.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43Once everyone is in position,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46the officers are ready to make their move.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Morning, police. Can you open up, please? Good morning.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01The occupier's let us in so we'll just be explaining why we're
0:18:01 > 0:18:05there and hopefully we'll start a search in the next few moments.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Although cameras didn't gain entry to the property during the search,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12it proved very fruitful.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14The significance of the items that were found on that search
0:18:14 > 0:18:18showed that the computer equipment had been used
0:18:18 > 0:18:21to take out policies of insurance
0:18:21 > 0:18:24for various people, so a really key piece of evidence for us.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27After the search, the equipment was forensically examined
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and conclusively linked Ahmed to the fraud.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34His motor insurance con had finally stalled and the next stop was court.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38He pleaded guilty, purely on
0:18:38 > 0:18:42the strength of the evidence that we had uncovered.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44He received five months' imprisonment.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46As far as Dave is concerned,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50the sentence sends out a strong message to would-be ghost brokers.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54It's illegal, you can't do it and if you are convicted then you do
0:18:54 > 0:18:57stand the risk of going to prison.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10FirstGroup's buses carry around 1.7 million people every day
0:19:10 > 0:19:12and passenger safety is a huge priority.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Lee Ingram works for Transportation Claims,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19which handles claims for FirstGroup.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Every accident that results in a personal injury case
0:19:22 > 0:19:26against the company is thoroughly investigated
0:19:26 > 0:19:29but not everything is as it seems at first glance.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34It was alleged in early September 2014 that two ladies had been
0:19:34 > 0:19:38thrown from their seats due to a bus braking heavily.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41This was in reaction to a car in front
0:19:41 > 0:19:43that had stopped to turn right.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47According to the claim,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50the women had suffered multiple serious injuries.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54The injuries alleged were soft tissue injuries to the neck.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59One of the ladies was alleging an eye injury.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03There was an exacerbation of a pre-existing spinal condition,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05some injury to the ribs.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10All of these sort of injuries would be commensurate with being
0:20:10 > 0:20:13thrown around a bus into the metal parts of the bus,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15the poles and the seats in front.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20The value of the claim was therefore considerable.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Both of these claims combined would have
0:20:22 > 0:20:25been in around about the £20,000 mark and that would have
0:20:25 > 0:20:30covered the injuries themselves, the loss of earnings, treatment fees
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and also the legal bills arising from bringing the claim.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39According to FirstGroup's records, the incident was real enough.
0:20:39 > 0:20:40No-one's denying that this is
0:20:40 > 0:20:46a genuine situation where a bus driver has had to brake heavily.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48So we've established that something has happened.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50The next thing we need to do is to prove
0:20:50 > 0:20:54whether the ladies' injuries have been caused by this incident.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59FirstGroup buses are fitted with multiple CCTV cameras
0:20:59 > 0:21:01so the next logical step was to check
0:21:01 > 0:21:03the recording from the day of the incident.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05All seemed normal at first.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10So what we're seeing is a nice journey through what looks like
0:21:10 > 0:21:12a sort of countryside-type area.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17The women in question are sat in the top right of the frame.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21When I'm reviewing the footage, I'm expecting to see something
0:21:21 > 0:21:24like a zero gravity space transmission, with bodies flying
0:21:24 > 0:21:27around in slow motion, ricocheting off the inside of the bus.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31"Expecting to see" being the operative phrase.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34The emergency stop is coming up, which supposedly
0:21:34 > 0:21:37resulted in multiple injuries to the women.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41There's definitely an incident there. The bus has had to brake.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44The passengers on the top deck
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and the driver can be seen reacting to the sudden braking.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53So let's see what happened to the two women.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54If what they claimed occurred is true,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56you're about to see something distressing.
0:21:56 > 0:21:57Brace yourselves.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Oh, was that it? Am I missing something?
0:22:08 > 0:22:11According to the women, the incident had caused multiple serious injuries
0:22:11 > 0:22:13to the neck, eye, ribs and spine,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17but the footage put a very different spin on things.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20There's nothing like what what's actually been said.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23There's no sign of these two ladies being
0:22:23 > 0:22:25thrown from their seats as has been alleged.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30We've got claims for rib injuries, eye injuries. Do you see any
0:22:30 > 0:22:33contact with a eye or ribs of either of these people on the bus?
0:22:35 > 0:22:38No, cos it didn't happen so this footage, it's just great
0:22:38 > 0:22:43in that it totally refutes anything that they're saying has happened.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50No matter how many times you look at it, there's no way the footage
0:22:50 > 0:22:53shows an impact that could have resulted in multiple injuries.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56There's certainly no eye injury, although they may
0:22:56 > 0:23:00want their eyes tested if they think the footage backs up their claim.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Their case is further undermined several minutes later when they
0:23:04 > 0:23:08reach their stop, get off the bus and stroll away seemingly without
0:23:08 > 0:23:12a care in the world and showing absolutely no signs of injury.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15To make themselves seem more legitimate, the women had
0:23:15 > 0:23:16taken on legal representation.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23I quote from one of the solicitor's comments,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27"The force of the braking threw the claimant off her seat."
0:23:27 > 0:23:31That's utter bobbins. It didn't actually happen.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34You'd get thrown further off your seat if you had hiccups.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37It was hard to swallow that the claim had come in at all.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Naturally, we sent the CCTV footage to the claimant's solicitors.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44In most cases, that brings everything to an abrupt halt.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Unusually, we did actually receive a reply back this time
0:23:47 > 0:23:51saying that the claims were withdrawn.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54That's all very well and good but it would be nice sometimes
0:23:54 > 0:23:57to just get a response saying, "I'm sorry for wasting your time."
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I've been doing this job for 28 years
0:23:59 > 0:24:04and that's never happened yet but a man's gotta have a dream.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06One day, Lee, one day.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Ordinarily, when something you send through the post goes missing,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20it's irritating, but if your whole business relies
0:24:20 > 0:24:23on posting products to clients it could be disastrous.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Missing post is something that Royal Mail takes very seriously.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32They've been providing a first class service delivering our letters
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and parcels for the last 500 years so when they heard about
0:24:36 > 0:24:41multiple postal losses affecting one person they set up an investigation.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46Royal Mail receives around 90 claims for compensation of mail
0:24:46 > 0:24:49relating to mail being sent by a Mr Milan Cockman
0:24:49 > 0:24:52being sent to various addresses throughout the world.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Well, he was claiming that the items were actually lost in the post.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04The claimant was involved in an online business
0:25:04 > 0:25:08which entailed supplying memory modules for digital storage.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13But there was a major problem that was affecting the business.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17According to him, almost every order he sent out was going missing...
0:25:19 > 0:25:23..and he was having to claim back compensation from Royal Mail.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Because of the high volume of claims that were made by Mr Cockman,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Royal Mail Customer Services down in Plymouth
0:25:30 > 0:25:32have a separate investigation team
0:25:32 > 0:25:35and they raised their concerns with myself, saying that the
0:25:35 > 0:25:40price that he was claiming, £50 per packet,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and he'd been paid around £4,700,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47was excessive so then I took on the investigation from there.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52With such a large sum of money being delivered into his bank account,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54suspicions were raised.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56The investigation turned to the paperwork
0:25:56 > 0:26:00supplied by the claimant in support of each of the 90 pay-outs.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06I looked at the invoices and they appeared to be scanned.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09This was immediately cause for concern as claims
0:26:09 > 0:26:12require original documentation.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16The investigation then turned to the high value products being sent out.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20I then contacted the company where Mr Cockman alleged that he'd
0:26:20 > 0:26:24bought them from and they confirmed that the memory module
0:26:24 > 0:26:28value is in fact around £6 or £7 and not £50.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Was it possible that someone involved in memory storage
0:26:33 > 0:26:36could just forget the price of the product?
0:26:36 > 0:26:38I also looked on the internet myself
0:26:38 > 0:26:41and again found that you could buy these memory
0:26:41 > 0:26:45modules for around £6, £7, not the £50 as Mr Cockman had claimed.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49By inflating the price by eight times the true value the claimant
0:26:49 > 0:26:52was posting a huge profit from the compensation pay-outs.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Having gathered proof of the fraud, I then contacted an inspector,
0:26:56 > 0:27:01a police inspector, and arranged for the arrest of Mr Milan Cockman.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07We searched Mr Cockman's home address
0:27:07 > 0:27:09and we recovered a number of computers which were
0:27:09 > 0:27:13forensically examined by Royal Mail, Royal Mail's forensics team,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17and we also recovered a number of invoices which showed
0:27:17 > 0:27:20the actual amount Mr Cockman had paid for each of the memory modules.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25But the strongest evidence was, naturally, stored away digitally.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Mr Cockman was quite upset after his arrest
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and I think that's probably because there was such damning evidence
0:27:32 > 0:27:34that we recovered on his computers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36The case had fraud stamped all over it,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38and the claimant was eventually taken to court.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43Mr Cockman was found guilty of all the charges under the Fraud Act,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46he was sentenced to four weeks imprisonment which was
0:27:46 > 0:27:49suspended for 18 months, 180 hours unpaid work
0:27:49 > 0:27:53and had to pay compensation of £2,500 to Royal Mail.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57The result of the trial sent out a strong message.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Royal Mail were very satisfied with the outcome of the case
0:28:00 > 0:28:04and I think it shows that we will prosecute for every fraud offence.