Secret pot farm harshes fraudster's mellow
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A penchant for insurance fraud has helped nip a man's marijuana growing operation in the bud.
Kevin Turner of Essex, U.K., was sentenced to 20 months in prison this week after admitting to production of controlled Class B drugs and four counts of fraud by false representation. Mr. Turner, an electrician, made four £5,000 ($7,496) claims to his insurer between December 2012 and June 2013, each time claiming his power tools had been taken from his van.
The fourth claim aroused the suspicion of the insurer, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. who referred the matter to the Insurance Fraud Department of the City Police of London. When detectives searched Mr. Turner's property, they found forged receipts used to file the bogus insurance claims as well as an outbuilding containing 53 mature marijuana plants.
Mark Reynolds, who ran the IFED's investigation, said Mr. Turner's taste for the high life was his undoing.
“Turner's lavish lifestyle turned him into a drug producer and persistent insurance fraudster, which today has seen him jailed as a convicted criminal,” Mr. Reynolds said in a statement.
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