CYCLIST ‘MADE UP £135,000 COMPO BID’
CASINO WORKER ACCUSED OF HATCHING PLAN TO DEFRAUD COUNCIL AFTER FALLING OFF HIS BIKE
A CASINO worker tried to defraud Cardiff council of more than £135,000 by pretending he fell off his bike after hitting a pothole, a court heard.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Luboya Tshibangu, 38, came off his bike on a slippery path and then lied about the location in a false claim for personal injury compensation.
Heath Edwards, prosecuting, said: “In simple terms, the defendant fell off his bike – there is no issue about that. What the prosecution say is that having fallen off his bike and injured himself, he then manufactured a false claim against the council in order to line his own pockets.”
Tshibangu, from Adamscroft Place in Adamsdown, Cardiff, denies fraud and is on trial.
Tshibangu, who worked at Grosvenor Casino, fell off his bike on December 16, 2012.
The court heard the fall was witnessed by Nuno Silva, who lived on Galleon Way at Atlantic Wharf.
Giving evidence from the witness box, he said the defendant seemed to slip and then landed heavily on his ankle. Questioned about the surface, he said it was “slippery” but he did not see any potholes.
Prosecutors said Mr Silva called an ambulance just before midday and Tshibangu was taken to the University Hospital of Wales for treatment.
A recording of the 999 call was played and when the call handler asked Mr Silva for the location, he said Galleon Way.
Mr Edwards said: “Following the incident, the defendant instructed a solicitor to seek compensation for personal injury.”
He claimed £15,912.91 for lost earnings and £119,861.14 for future lost earnings.
The defendant stated he broke his ankle after hitting a pothole by Bute East Dock, which caused him to fall off his bike.
Mr Edwards said that site was 950 yards away from where the prosecution allege the fall happened.
He added: “[The defendant] fell off his bike, we say, at a totally different spot. He is lying about the location.”
The court heard Cardiff council was responsible for the highway at the location where Tshibangu stated he fell.
Mr Edwards said: “He knew he could not sue anyone for falling off his bike on a slippery path. He found a hole in the pavement and made a false legal claim.”
Prosecutors said there was evidence about the location from a GPS tracker on the ambulance that came to help the defendant, showing it stopped at Galleon Way. The court heard the defendant abandoned his claim and the police launched an investigation.
When he was interviewed, Tshibangu told officers his claim was genuine.
Tshibangu, who is joined in the dock by a French interpreter, denies fraud.
The case, presided over by Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, is before a jury of five men and seven women and is expected to last for about three days.
The trial continues.