Fake sickness fraudster Brian Cromby was left feeling queasy, after he was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court and jailed for 12 months.
Mr Cromby, from Liverpool, was sentenced by HHJ David Aubrey after being charged with intentionally encouragingly assisting in the commission of an offence contrary to section 44 of the Serious Crimes Act 2007.
Mr Cromby pleaded guilty to the charge, after a wealth of evidence was given to the court, including evidence showing that Mr Cromby had connections with individuals who have made fraudulent sickness claims against Jet2holidays.
The Mail on Sunday played a leading role in the conviction, after their investigation showed that Mr Cromby had advised two reporters on how to make a fraudulent claim.
In some quarters Britain was recently referred to as the ‘fake sick man of Europe’ after unscrupulous fraudsters such as Mr Cromby were able to exploit a legal loophole and encourage a huge rise in fake sickness claims over recent years. This led to a 500% increase in gastric sickness* claims made by British holidaymakers between 2013 and 2016, prompting some hoteliers to warn that they would withdraw holidays from the UK market.
We led the campaign to stamp this out – even hiring private investigators to catch touts in action – and in April 2018, the Ministry of Justice announced the extension of Fixed Recoverable Costs to cover holiday sickness claims brought under the Package Travel Regulations, making defence costs predictable and thus deterring bogus claims.
Since then, Jet2holidays has continued to investigate and defend any claims that are dishonest or illegitimate, resulting in a number of victories in court. These successes, and today’s decision, shows just how seriously the courts take this issue.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: “Jet2holidays and the Mail on Sunday have led the way to stamp out the scourge of fake sickness claims, which was criminal fraud driven by unscrupulous Claims Management Companies and individuals like Brian Cromby. We are delighted to see justice served today, and although we have already succeeded in changing the law to deter bogus sickness claims, we continue to investigate all claims robustly and the courts will very clearly not hesitate to punish anyone engaging in such fraud.”
