Three men used Companies House and false bank accounts

Three fraudsters who conned five Aviva directors out of £638,000 have been jailed, say City of London police.

The three men used information from Companies House and false bank accounts to trick call centre staff into handing over details of the directors' life assurance policies.

Last Tuesday, Southwark Crown Court sentenced two of the men to four and a half years in jail. The following day the third fraudster was sentenced to 18 months in prison, City police said.

DC Jeffrey Gettings, from the City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate, said: "The prison sentence handed to these three men should be a serious warning to others. If you are convicted of fraud you can expect a number of years in jail."

The trial in May heard how the transfer of the directors money alerted Aviva’s fraud teams and they contacted City of London Police, which launched an investigation.

Officers soon uncovered the fake accounts, which led them directly to the guilty parties, police said.