Injury fraud evidence ‘utterly compelling’

A group of Romanians, mainly based in Galway, had been linked to Irish Travellers in an utterly dishonest scam of staging car crashes to mount fraudulent personal injury claims, a judge stated yesterday.

Mr Justice Raymond Groarke said the people who gained from the profit-making criminal activities were paying Roma drivers for crashing their cars into other vehicles.

Conor Kearney, for Aviva Insurance Ltd, told the Circuit Civil Court that the company was challenging 79 outstanding claims. He said 60% of the claims were around Galway, and the company would be alleging they had been fraudulently staged or had never taken place.

After throwing out two claims for €38,000 by Galway brothers Martin Corcoran and John Gerard Corcoran, now living in a London halting site, Mr Justice Groarke said a vast amount of research by Aviva, into geographical and inter-associate and family connectivity, had confirmed the scam.

He told barrister Moira Flahive, who appeared with Mr Kearney and solicitor Alan Synnott for Aviva, that the evidence of fraud they had produced was utterly compelling. He said the highest standard of proof that could be provided to a judge had been put before the court in the case.

Ms Flahive told the court there were a number of outstanding claims involving Axa Insurance.

Mr Justice Groarke said it was an inescapable conclusion that there was liaison between members of the Irish Traveller and Roma communities to set up staged accidents and claims to defraud insurance companies.

The judge described as “a crook” how Romanian Neagu Alexandru was found to have driven his Honda Civic into the back of a Ford Galaxy people-carrier in which the Corcoran brothers and five of their cousins were travelling.

It was an extraordinary state of affairs that so many involved in so many accidents should have similar descriptions, addresses, locations, and country of origin, and were residing, but not exclusively, in Galway.

He said that, from his work in the West of Ireland, he recognised that the names of the people involved were Traveller family names from around Galway.

Neagu Alexandru, “a man experienced in fraudulent activities”, had switched his insurance policy on a JCB digger on to his Honda Civic for a few days and then back again following the collision.

Mr Justice Groarke told Mr Kearney and Ms Flahive there was no damage whatsoever on the Galaxy which was consistent with the damage to the Honda and he concluded Mr Neagu was up to his usual criminal activity.

Aviva’s research confirmed direct connections between the Corcorans and other claimants who lived close to them in Lynton Close halting site in London.

The investigation raised a considerable question mark over the veracity of evidence given by the Corcorans and he believed they were well aware of what had been taking place and were a party to the attempted fraud.

The court heard the crash occurred at a roundabout near Blanchardstown in July 2012 and seven claims had been made by occupants of the Corcoran vehicle.

Aviva’s legal costs were directed to be paid by the Corcoran brothers.