A Milton Keynes man has been sentenced for making a fake claim for a Rolex watch, a year after he was convicted for his part in helping launder £1.2m from fraud victims.
Following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), Daniel Silver, 28, of Forfar Drive, Milton Keynes was sentenced at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court and given a 12 month community order of 200 hours unpaid work.
In February 2016, a few months after taking out insurance for the Rolex watch, Silver contacted his insurer stating that he’d accidentally lost it while attending a sun bed shop. Silver also reported this to Thames Valley Police. Prior to this, he’d provided the insurer with a valuation certificate stating the watch was worth £6,150.
However, the insurers were immediately suspicious of Silver’s claim as he wasn’t completely forthright when they questioned him about the ownership of the watch. Silver wasn’t able to provide a proof of purchase (e.g. receipt), but said that the watch had been gifted to him by his grandfather, who’d recently passed away.
Their belief that the claim may be fraudulent was strengthened further after speaking to the employees at the sun bed shop who said that the CCTV showed Silver entering the shop not wearing the watch.
The jewellers were also contacted and while they did confirm that the watch had been valued by them, their statement revealed yet more inconsistencies in what Silver had told the insurer. Silver claimed he’d got the watch valued in one day, but the jewellers revealed that it would’ve actually taken a number of days as it would need to have been sent away for valuation.
In addition, the contact number provided by Silver to the jewellers was different to the one he’d provided to insurers. It was later discovered that the number provided by Silver to the jewellers belonged to the real owner.
When questioned about these inconsistencies, Silver admitted that he didn’t own the watch and had lied about his grandfather (who did in fact pass away) owning it and giving it to him as a gift. During interview, he finally confirmed that it belonged to someone he knew and also admitted that he didn’t get it valued.
Silver’s bogus insurance claim was not the first time he had come to the attention of the City of London Police. A few years before, during May 2013 and January 2014, it was discovered that Silver was part of a group of five men who were helping facilitate the operations of four boiler rooms by laundering a total of £1,249,309. This money was stolen from victims who thought they were investing in gold or broadcast airtime.
After an investigation by the City of London Police’s Fraud Squad, Silver, along with the four other men were sentenced at Luton Crown Court. Silver was given a 12 month community order of 100 hours unpaid work.
City of London Police Detective Sergeant Matt Hussey, who led the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department's investigation, says, “Not long after he’d helped to launder more than £1m from fraud victims, Silver was continuing with his criminal activity and had turned to insurance fraud. He was even prepared to use the death of his grandfather to try and progress his claim and make a financial gain."
“Thankfully, with valuable support from the insurer and the intelligence they’d gathered through their own internal investigation, Silver’s lies have been exposed and IFED have ensured he’s been rightly punished.”
