Insurance fraudsters formed part of a racket

Four persons involved in a motor insurance racket have been convicted of fraud after filing an early admission of guilt. The punishments varied from suspended jail terms and community work.The four were part of a group of 22 people charged last January, following a police investigation which uncovered a racket targeting eight major insurance companies between 2009 and 2013.During proceedings it transpired that the group used the same pool of vehicles to collude on a number of compensation claims.Some cars had been declared a total loss, with one particular fraudster pocketing €27,000 for a wrecked BMW. Others superficially patched their vehicles up to reuse them. Insurance firms Untours, Elmo, Atlas, Gasan, Allcare, Citadel, Fogg (Argus) and Middlesea were all targeted by the group. 

While four of the accused pleaded guilty, proceedings against the rest of the group are still pending.Ivan Degiovanni, 33, was sentenced to 20 months in jail suspended for two years and ordered to do 300 hours of community work. He pleaded guilty to defrauding Atlas Insurance of more than €5,000, defrauding Untours Insurance of between €500 and €5,000 and attempted to defraud Gasan Mamo Insurance of...