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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
We’ve all become used to brides-to-be displaying photos of their engagement bling on social media, but one proud future bride unwittingly landed her fiancé in hot water with the law when she posted a picture of her sparkler on Facebook.
Businessman David Hammond, from northwest London, filed an insurance claim for his fiancée’s £20,000 ($33,702) engagement ring claiming it had been stolen while the couple was on holiday in Brazil.
According to the Daily Mail, Mr. Hammond reported the theft of the ring to police in Rio de Janeiro in January, and filed the insurance claim on his return to the United Kingdom.
But eagle-eyed underwriters at his insurer, Aqueduct Underwriting Ltd., spotted a photograph of Mr. Hammond’s fiancée flashing the ring on her Facebook page — after the supposed theft had taken place.
When loss adjusters contacted him about the photo of the rock, Mr. Hammond claimed he had found the ring and he subsequently withdrew his insurance claim.
Mr. Hammond pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud and this week was given a six-month suspended sentence.
The judge at the Old Bailey in London ordered Mr. Hammond to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, spend three months on an electronically tagged curfew and pay £300 ($506) in costs.
The judge told Mr. Hammond that he had been thoroughly dishonest and that his crime was not victimless, as false insurance claims can push up premium rates for others.
Maybe he might also have quoted author Terry Pratchett, writer of the Discworld series, who said: “Rings try to find their way back to their owner. Someone ought to write a book about it.”