A man who attempted to collect £600,000 in life insurance premiums after his brother died from Covid-19 has been jailed.
After pleading guilty to eight counts of fraud by false representation, Daniel Banete, 30, of Lillington Road, Coventry, was sentenced to three years in prison at Warwick Crown Court on December 6, 2022. A £190 victim surcharge was also imposed on him.
Following the death of his brother in Romania in 2020, Banete obtained four different life insurance policies in the name of the deceased.
Banete purchased the policies between July 16 and July 21, 2020, but on July 8, 2020, his brother had passed away in a hospital from Covid-19. In an effort to obtain the payouts, he subsequently gave false death certificates to the insurance companies with various dates of death between November 2020 and January 2021.
The fraud was discovered after Aviva, one of the insurers Banete had obtained a policy from, arranged for a Romanian staff person to contact the hospital where Banete’s brother passed away, and they verified the accurate date of death.
Additionally, Aviva was able to provide the IP address where the policy was purchased, and further investigation established that it was Banete at his residential address.
Officers discovered policy documentation for the four insurance firms’ life insurance policies while searching Banete’s home.
Officers also found a file of false death certificates that were provided to the insurers when the claims were lodged and had a date of death listed as 10 November 2020.
The authentic birth, marriage, and death certificates for Banete’s brother were also recovered by IFED officers in a folder.
City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) Detective Constable Ian Cambridge says: “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.”
Aviva claims philosophy manager Jacqueline Kerwood says: “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.”