TWO Warrington men have been jailed for their part in a UK wide scam which centered on false Personal Injury and Payment Protection Insurance information.
Anthony Dowd, 30, from Dundee Close, Winwick, who defrauded businesses out of nearly £100,000, was jailed for 18 months after he pleaded guilty at Warrington Crown Court to fraud by false representation.
His accomplice, James Kirkham, 26, of Grasmere Avenue, Orford,who hid some of the stolen money in his bank, received an eight month sentence after he was found guilty of money laundering.
The charges related to an investigation launched in 2014 by Cheshire Police in collaboration with the Claims Management Regulation Unit. The
investigation focused on businesses from across the UK who all reported that they had been miss-sold Personal Injury and Payment Protection Insurance information.
The businesses claimed that they had been contacted by Dowd offering
the contact details for people who had been miss-sold Payment Protection Insurance or had been involved in accidents that weren’t their fault. However, after paying Dowd, all the businesses received data which was found to be totally useless.
The investigation uncovered that Dowd had deceived at least 22 businesses from across the UK out of about £99,000. While conducting the investigation officers also discovered that Dowd had been transferring some of the money – about £35,000 – into the bank account of a family friend, Kirkham, in an attempt to hide the money.
The two men were arrested by officers from Cheshire Police and were formally charged in February this year.
After the hearing, Detective Constable Ian Wetherall, of Cheshire Police Economic Crime Unit said: “This is an excellent result and I hope that the sentence will act as a warning to other potential fraudsters.
“Fraud is not a victimless crime, and in this case more than 20 businesses were defrauded out of thousands of pounds and thousands of innocent residents received unwanted and unnecessary calls from people offering Personal Injury and Payment Protection Insurance claims.
“I hope that this case reassures residents that Cheshire Police treats fraud extremely seriously and we will take robust action against offenders involved in this type of crime.”
James Kirkham – jailed for eight months
