Axa staff sentenced for data theft

Four people have been sentenced for their part in a scam which saw 100 pieces of data a week stolen from Axa Insurance between July and December in 2015.

The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), which worked closely with Axa during the investigation, discovered that between 15 July 2015 and 30 December 2015, employee Shane Jerman stole customer data and passed it onto ex-employee Stuart McGill, who in turn sold it onto Jack Greenwood and Andrew Franks for their claims management company (CMC).

According to IFED, Jerman and McGill made approximately £18,250 between them.

At Preston Combined Court Centre, the men received the following sentences on 22 February, after pleading guilty:

• Shane Jerman, 29, of Westbourne Road, Morecambe – Nine months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. 180 hours unpaid work and £450 court costs. For one count of bribery;

• Stuart McGill, 30, of Charlecote Road, Stockport – Nine months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. 180 hours unpaid work and £450 court costs. For two counts of bribery;

• Jack Greenwood, 29, of Gravel Lane, Wilmslow – 14 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. 180 hours unpaid work, £750 court costs and £3,000 fine to be paid within three months. For one count of bribery;

• Andrew Franks, 29, of Spencer Mews, Macclesfield – 17 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. 180 hours unpaid work, £750 court costs and £3,000 fine to be paid within three months.  For one count of bribery. 

IFED detailed that it was discovered that Jerman was taking photographs of customer data and sending them onto McGill via Whatsapp. McGill stated that Jerman was sending roughly 100 lines of data to him each week.

Wolf of Manchester
Analysis of their bank accounts revealed that McGill was regularly sending between £250 and £650 to Jerman, with the description in the statements as “Shane Jerman Wolf of Manchester”.

Further analysis into McGill’s bank account showed that he was receiving several thousands of pounds from a company called Mid North West.

IFED made enquiries into Mid North West, which was operating as a claims management company, and identified Greenwood as a director and Franks as an employee. McGill also confirmed this in his interview and said he was receiving money from them in return for the data supplied by Jerman.

At one stage during the fraud, Greenwood bragged about the success of their activity, sending a message to McGill suggesting a “Christmas works do is defo on the cards!” for the four of them.

Axa became suspicious that there was fraudulent activity and referred the matter to IFED for investigation.

Detective Constable Louise Wager, who the led the investigation for IFED, said: “These four men thought they could make easy money by selling on customer data, but instead they have been sentenced for their involvement, and will now be unable to work in a range of industries due to their criminal records.

“The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department takes this type of fraud very seriously. As shown in this case with Axa Insurance, we continue to work effectively with insurers to try and eradicate fraudulent activity within the industry and deter anyone who is thinking of getting involved.”

Mike Bennett, head of investigations & fraud control at Axa UK, said: “We take information security and fraud extremely seriously here at Axa, and will investigate all cases then seek to prosecute for this type of activity.

“We would like to thank our internal teams who compiled the evidence as well as IFED who investigated the case. We hope this acts as a reminder that when it comes to fraud, the consequences are not worth the risk.”

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