A gang of drug traffickers were jailed for using fraudulent insurance policies to help build their drug operation.
The gang of six men were sentenced to a combined 18 years and eight months in prison for their role in large-scale production and distribution of cannabis worth up to £1.9m.
Evidence presented by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) demonstrated how motor trade policies were used by the gang fraudulently to help distance their identities from the vehicles being used to traffic drugs.
The IFB became involved in the case following suspicions that a gang were fraudulently using motor trade insurance to support a large-scale cannabis production and distribution operation between Bristol and Merseyside.
Experts worked to uncover evidence of how the crime group used motor trade policies to insure 10 vehicles to help hide their identities from the vehicles being used and evade automatic number plate recognition detection for no insurance.
The IFB’s findings were said by police to have strengthened the prosecution’s case by demonstrating the gang’s sophisticated efforts to evade getting caught.
All six pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to conspiracy to produce cannabis with one member of the Bristol based crew, Luca Fioravanti, also pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis..
They each received a custodial prison sentence and will be stripped of illegally gained money and assets.
Mario Fioruci, 37, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.
Alessandro Carbone, 46, from Glen Park, Bristol, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Luca Fioravanti, 37, from High Street, Kingswood, Bristol, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Edi Daka, 46, of Dudley Court, Barrs Court, South Gloucestershire, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Arjan Dishmima, 42, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 22 months in prison;
Eno Suma, 35, of Bishopsworth Road, Bedminster Down, Bristol, was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Detective Inspector Charlotte Tucker from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: "This group were producing cannabis with a street value of more than £1million each harvest, meaning huge amounts of money going back into serious and organised crime, as well as large amounts of the drug being sold in our communities.
“The evidence provided by the IFB showed the lengths the group were going to, to try and distance themselves from the vehicles being used to transport people and drugs to and from the huge cannabis grow. However, in the end, such evidence actually helped to strengthen the case against them.”
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It’s estimated one insurance scam takes place each minute in the UK at an annual cost of £3 billion for insurers and consumers. Yet according to the National Crime Agency (NCA) fewer than 20% of cases of fraud are reported to the authorities, despite fraud being Britain’s most common crime.
Studies show insurance fraud is frequently connected to serious crime and helps to facilitate it. The IFB has historically carried out investigations which found gangs to be committing motor fraud to commit a range of offences on the road, including firearms and human trafficking.
The IFB is a not-for-profit organisation that accesses industry data and public reports to work with the police to detect and disrupt organised criminal groups committing insurance fraud.
Anyone with suspicions of an insurance scam can contact the IFB’s confidential Cheatline at www.insurancefraudbureau.org/cheatline or via a phoneline (powered by Crimestoppers) on 0800 422 0421.
