A total of more than 150 people have been convicted for submitting fraudulent insurance claims following a lengthy investigation into a huge car insurance scam in South Wales.
The convictions relate to the second phase of Gwent Police’s Operation Dino – which investigated fraudulent insurance claims being submitted after vehicles were deliberately crashed to make them look like they had been in legitimate accidents.
The investigation, that has spanned seven years, culminated in the final three cases being heard at Newport Crown Court on Friday, June 29, taking the number of people convicted during this phase to 77 and the total to 158.
Between 2009 and 2012, fake crashes were staged and fraudulent compensation claims submitted by people across the Caerphilly County Borough.
The Yendell family, who owned a garage known as Easyfix or St David’s Crash Repair in Pengam, are reported to have earned around £2 million from staged crashes and bogus insurance claims made by friends and relatives.
However, they were caught on camera by their own CCTV, which officers had seized during a raid that followed a tip-off about a stolen car in 2011.
The sheer size of the operation extended well beyond the ringleaders who were convicted and sentenced to between six and two years imprisonment on December 17, 2016.
The original case, which concluded in 2015, saw 81 people prosecuted, while phase two has resulted in 96 convictions for 77 defendants. Offences include conspiracy to defraud and fraud by misrepresentation.
The 77 defendants have received a total of 123 months’ custody, 6350 hours of unpaid work and £127,242 worth of compensation orders.
Ben Fletcher, Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), said: “The outcome of this case goes to show that if you commit insurance fraud you will pay the price.
“While we were pleased with the outcome of phase one of this investigation, which resulted in a total of 601 months’ jail time for the 81 fraudsters, we saw an opportunity to continue the fight and ensure that everyone involved was brought to justice.
Senior Investigating Officer at Gwent Police, Steve Maloney said: “Operation Dino was investigated by a small team of dedicated investigators who had to manage a large number of individuals responsible for a very complex fraud.
“The investigation has brought people to justice for their criminal activity but has also assisted our partners in the insurance industry to prevent future offences of this nature going undetected.
“Crash for cash scams have a real impact on society and cost the honest policy holder almost £350 million each year.”
Nice to see these fraudters brought to justice.
Their actions force insurance premiums to increase for all drivers