Canadian who shipped his car to Nigeria pleads guilty to insurance fraud

A Whitby man has pleaded guilty to public mischief and been ordered to pay more than $3,000 after shipping his car to Nigeria before reporting it stolen to his insurance company

Desmond Stewart, 55, filed a stolen vehicle report with his insurance company, Aviva, in August, however some inconsistencies in his report led to an internal investigation, which then had Aviva involve Durham police.

Together, the police and the insurance company were able to track Mr. Stewart's vehicle to a shipping container which had cleared Canadian customs en route to Nigeria in July.

Mr. Stewart had waited until the vehicle cleared customs before reporting it stolen.

"Like staged accidents, unrecovered vehicles and staged thefts are becoming a bigger problem in Canada," Greg Dunn, executive vice president, national claims with Aviva Canada, said in a press release. "Insurance fraud costs everyone, but through continued cooperation with local authorities we can take these costs out of the system to help reduce premiums."

Originally facing an additional charge of fraud, Mr. Stewart pleaded guilty to mischief on Oct. 4, receiving one-year probation, a fine of $3,450 and 100 hours of community service.

Source: Durham Region.com