Vet sentenced after making false pet insurance claims

A veterinary surgeon who conned an insurer out of almost £10,000 by making fictitious veterinary treatment claims for non-existent pets has today (Thursday 14 March 2013) been handed a suspended jail term. Francisco Cruz admitted making false insurance claims for three dogs and a cat that he claimed had undergone surgery between November 2008 and February 2012.To make his claims appear authentic, he took out the policies in the names of family and friends, sent the insurer invoices from the veterinary practice in which he worked and telephoned the insurer pretending to be the vet who performed the surgeries.Cruz, 32, from Field View Close, Warwickshire, came unstuck in April 2012 when a £2,705 claim to a second insurer, for surgery on a dog, was identified as fraudulent and referred to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) for investigation.The same month IFED detectives arrested Cruz at his then workplace – a veterinary practice in Norfolk – and quickly uncovered the four previous claims.He was subsequently charged, and pleaded guilty, to five counts of fraud by false representation.DC Mohammed Darr, who ran IFED’s investigation, said: “Cruz was paid to care for animals, but over several years he abused his position to claim pay-outs for surgeries on pets that did not exist. “Cruz’s sentence highlights again how IFED is working with industry to bring insurance fraudsters to justice wherever they are and whatever they do.”Cruz was handed an eight month prison sentence for each of the five counts, to run concurrently, suspended for two years at the Old Bailey. He was also ordered to undertake 200 hours community work, pay compensation totalling almost £10,000 to the two insurers and £500 prosecution costs. A RoyalCollege of Veterinary Surgeons spokesperson said: “We have been in contact with the IFED about this case since the outset and have been running our own investigation concurrently. Now that a conviction has been secured and sentence handed down, our Preliminary Investigation Committee will be able to consider the details of the case and decide the most appropriate course of action.”