If you’re going to fake car crash to defraud £15,000 from insurance firm then it’s probably best not to get a mate to film it
A BUSINESSMAN scammed £15,000 from his insurance company after staging a bogus car crash – only to be caught after his “moron” associate filmed him smashing up the motor.
Mark Brown – managing director of building firm Parbro Construction Ltd – was yesterday jailed over the fraud.
He conspired with another person to take a Ford Focus RS to an industrial unit in Methil, Fife, “in the dead of night” where it was trashed, leaving it as a write-off.
It was then transported to Porters Brae, near Kennoway, Fife – a rural road running out of the town – where he and his unnamed associate claimed they had been involved in a smash.
False statements were made to insurers Aviva, who agreed to fork out £13,000 for the car and BY JAMIE BEATSON reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk £2500 in costs to Brown. But that payment was stopped when a claim was made for bogus damage to the other vehicle in the fake incident – prompting an investigation.
The probe led to police finding the footage of the car being destroyed in the industrial unit.
Jailing Brown, a sheriff told him the fraud was only uncovered “because many criminals are inherently very stupid, particularly in this case the moron who filmed the staging of this fake accident”.
Brown, 49, of Leven, Fife, was convicted of forming a fraudulent scheme, which he had denied.
Defending, Dewar Spence urged the sheriff to allow Brown to walk free from court.
He said: “Unpaid hours of work would be a punishment for him and allow him to keep his employment.”
But Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC instead jailed Brown for nine months.
He said: “This was a heavily organised and sophisticated crime.
“Motor insurance fraud is a widespread crime and costs millions every year which is passed on to law-abiding road users.
“This crime is difficult to detect.
“In this case it was detected by good police work and because many criminals are inherently very stupid, particularly in this case the moron who filmed the staging of this fake accident.
“You have only one very minor matter of dishonesty on your record.
“However, I’m entirely satisfied that this is so serious that only a prison sentence is appropriate.”