Man jailed for failing to repay profits from his insurance fraud

A 33-year-old man has been jailed for seven-and-a-half months after he failed to repay a £13k confiscation order following his conviction for fraud.

Stuart Walker was previously convicted in 2014 along with three others for a £34k medical insurance fraud following an investigation by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), which is part of the City of London Police.

Walker appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on 2 March, and was imprisoned for 234 days, after failing to pay back a confiscation order of £13,160.

In July 2014, Walker was convicted and sentenced along with three other men from the Atherton and Worsley areas in relation to an insurance fraud. Between December 2011 and April 2012 one of the group, who was an insurance claims manager at the time, processed fraudulent medical claims from the other three, including Walker, which led to pay-outs totalling £34,000.

The fraud was uncovered when the company noticed anomalies in the payment to Walker and referred the case to IFED.

IFED officers discovered the claims had been concocted and the four men were eventually convicted of fraud offences in 2014. Following the convictions, officers then applied for confiscation orders in order to get back some of the proceeds of the fraud.

On 18 July, 2014 Walker was ordered to repay £13,160, while the other three men were ordered to pay back just over £6,000 between them; all four having six months to repay the amount or face a possible custodial sentence if they defaulted on the payment.

Whilst the other three all paid the money back, to-date Walker has only managed to repay £1,500 of the monies owed, with £12,700 still owing (due to interest accrued on the amount) and he was jailed for seven-and-a-half months following a hearing at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.

Financial Investigator Mark Broughton, from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, who originally applied for the confiscation order said:

“This outcome sends a strong message that those looking to profit from insurance fraud will be made to pay for their crime. The confiscation order was given to make sure that he didn’t profit from his crime and Walker was given plenty of opportunity to come up with the money and pay back what he owed.

“However, during the past year, he has given various reasons and excuses as to why he hasn’t been able to pay the money back in full. Despite these delaying tactics, time has run out for Walker and he now faces several months behind bars.”

 

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