A man has been sentenced after making more than £30,000 from fake insurance claims for "damaged" TVs.

Alfred Gallinelli, 36, of Blundell Road in Barnet, was sentenced a year imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, at Inner London Crown Court last Thursday (January 25).

Gallinelli had pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation at the same court on 24 October in 2023, after he took out 87 home insurance policies and made 45 fake claims for broken televisions.

He took out the policies from November 2017 to July 2018 using fake names and made all 45 claims, for accidental damage to a flat-screen television, against them.

Gallinelli had received payouts of £31,590 after 26 of the claims were settled.

Detective Constable Chris Kench, City of London Police, said: “Although each claim made by Gallinelli was relatively low in value, the large volume of claims he made meant that he pocketed a whopping £31,000.

"Losses through fraudulent activity like this increase premiums for law-abiding policyholders," he added.

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Gallinelli was also ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work, a 30-day rehabilitation activity and pay a victim surcharge.

The Barnet man took out a home insurance policy in November 2017, and contacted the insurer in January 2018 to report he has dropped a TV.

He received a voucher to buy a replacement.

Gallinelli made a second claim against the same policy in March 2018 and alleged a wall-mounted TV had fallen and broken several shelves, an iPhone and an iPad.

The insurer provided a replacement phone and anothe voucher.

A company the insurer used to check claims and arrange replacement items found that Gallinelli had already made a claim for damage to a TV.

This led to an investigation, where it was found that Gallinelli had taken out 82 policies under various names and taken 40 claims against them.

After the fraudulent claims were found, 19 were denied before they could be paid out.

A separate investigation found Gallinelli had taken out five home insurance policies under various names and £6,829 had been paid out against them.

It was also found he made five further claims worth £16,000, which were denied.