A man who used the internet to take premiums from more than 5,000 clients and then failed to get cover for them at Lloyd's has been jailed for two and a half years and ordered to pay £210,000 compensation.
Robert Damon-Aspen used his Canary Wharf-based business Corporate Group Insurance Services (CFT) to target small businesses.
The company posed as an intermediary for placing contracts for insurance for professional indemnity, public liability and employers' liability insurance cover.
Despite receiving around £1.3m in premiums from 5,000 clients, Damon-Aspen did not buy the adequate cover from Lloyd's. Instead he issued forged policy documents to disguise his fraud.
It was only when the defendant made a series of administrative errors that clients contacted Lloyd's to query why their temporary cover note had not been replaced with policy documents.
In February Damon-Aspen was charged with 81 offences of deception and nine offences of forgery committed against 44 clients.
In passing the two and a half year sentence, HHJ Southwell said the defendant “showed breathtaking greed and arrogance and intended to be dishonest from the start”.
Lloyd's director of worldwide markets Julian James said: "Lloyd's powerful global brand is one of its greatest assets and we will not tolerate any misuse of our name.
“The fraud team at Lloyd's that investigates alleged misuse has an outstanding track record. This case shows that, by working closely with the Serious Fraud Office and other law enforcement bodies, we will tirelessly pursue those guilty of fraud and bring them to justice."
