A “cynical” fraudster has been jailed for three years after trying to claim more than half a million pounds in life insurance payouts covering his brother from several policies bought after his sibling’s death from Covid-19.
Daniel Banete’s scam was caught by Aviva after a Romanian member of staff at the insurer contacted the hospital in Romania where is brother had died to confirm the date of death.
The insurer was also able to provide an IP address where the policy was taken out and enquiries revealed that it was Banete at his home address in Coventry.
He took out four policies between 16 to 21 July 2020, but his brother had passed away in hospital from Covid-19 on 8 July 2020.
According to City of London Police, Banete then provided fake death certificates to the insurance companies with different dates of death between November 2020 to January 2021 to try and claim the settlements.
During a search at house, officers found a file of fake death certificates which showed a date of death as 10 November 2020, and it was these documents that were sent to the insurers when the claims were made.
IFED officers also found a folder which contained Banete’s brother’s real birth, marriage and death certificates.
‘Cynical intention’
Detective Constable Ian Cambridge, from the City of London Police Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), said: “Banete took out these policies after his brother died with the cynical intention of making financial gain for himself.
“He altered official documents to intentionally deceive the insurers and the overwhelming evidence against him shows that he knew exactly that he was doing.”
Jacqueline Kerwood, claims philosophy manager for protection at Aviva, said: “This sentencing makes the point that insurance fraud is a crime and if you commit insurance fraud, it is likely you will be caught and prosecuted.
“Aviva has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud because fake claims put pressure on the cost of premiums for honest customers who rely on financial protection provided by life insurance policies.”
Banete, 30 from Lillington Road in Coventry, answered no comment to all questions during his police interview.
He pled guilty to eight counts of fraud by false representation and was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge at Warwick Crown Court yesterday.
Of the four policies, two were valued at £150,000, one was worth £120,000 and the last was £100,000.
Banete was sentenced to three years in jail for one of the £150,000 frauds and 14 months each for the three others, with all sentences running concurrently.