Tech boss 'made fraudulent £405k claim' for broken Saracens rugby screens

A businessman made a fraudulent £405,000 insurance claim when advertising screens he supplied for Saracens matches were damaged in a storm, a court heard.

Edward De Camborne Lucy, 44, made a claim to Aviva after his screens were “damaged beyond repair” but was told any payout would be capped at £200,000.

With his company facing collapse, De Lucy doctored paperwork to try to up the payout.

Woolwich crown court heard the business supplied advertising screens, valued at £428,679, for Saracens’ 2014-15 season.

To overcome the payout cap, De Lucy adapted a “form of acceptance” from a previous legitimate claim to try to fool loss adjusters into agreeing a £405,000 payment.

He organised for an accountant to send over the doctored paperwork but the loss adjusters noticed that it included the reference number for the previous claim.

It was then found that his company was facing a winding up petition and he was in serious financial difficulties, which he had not disclosed.

Tom Gardiner, head of fraud at Aviva, said De Lucy’s firm “suffered a genuine loss, which was covered… but which he then tried to inflate”.

De Lucy, of Stockbury, Kent, denied fraud by false representation and making or supplying an article for use in fraud but was convicted of both charges.

He was handed an 18-months ­suspended sentence and ordered to pay £33,410 in compensation and £6,704 in court costs.

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