Car insurance fraudster sentenced
A Liverpool man who manipulated an insurer’s website to get £10,000 worth of car insurance for just £10 has been sentenced.
Callum Mullen had previously been found guilty of two counts of fraud by false representation at Liverpool Crown Court, following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).
The 33-year-old had gone online and signed-up to insure his Vauxhall Vectra in April 2012, but when it came to paying for the policy he managed to corrupt the system so he only paid a fraction of the full cost.
However the insurer’s counter fraud system detected the fiddle and, while an insurance certificate had been issued, the company voided the policy and referred the case to IFED.
Mullen was arrested at his home on Parklands Way in Liverpool in December 2012. Searching the house detectives found a laptop on which was discovered the fraudulently obtained certificate.
During their investigation detectives discovered that Mullen knew two men convicted in 2013 following another IFED investigation, for manipulating insurers’ websites to get £187,000 worth of car insurance policies for £30.
Earlier today at Liverpool Crown Court, Mullen was handed an 18 month jail term suspended for two years, ordered to undertake 200 hours unpaid work, made to pay £500 court costs and given a four month curfew.
Since its launch in 2012, IFED has become a key part of the City of London Police, in its role as the National Policing Lead for Fraud. The force runs the national fraud squads, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, Action Fraud and National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
Detective Constable Mark Reynolds, of the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said, ‘Mullen manipulated an insurer’s website to get a car insurance policy worth £10,000 for only a few pounds.
‘He obtained this policy in an attempt to convince police and highways authorities that he was a legally insured driver so he could move around the country uninhibited.
‘Thanks to our investigation and the insurer’s fraud detection systems Mullen has been fully exposed as an insurance fraudster and made to pay for his crime.’
A further five people took part in voluntary police interview during IFED’s investigation but no further action was taken against them.
