Waterford resident jailed over insurance scam targeting fellow Brazilians

A man who posed as a so-called ghost insurance broker and obtained €12,500 in fake policy payments from unsuspecting people in his community has been jailed for two years and ordered to sell his motorbike.

The victims of Cesar Fernandes Borges Filho “trusted him because he was one of their own”, Judge Martin Nolan said while sentencing him in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this Tuesday.

The court heard Filho, who has an address in County Waterford, targeted people in the Brazilian community who had recently arrived in the country and were not familiar with the Irish insurance policy system.

The 34-year-old, who has an address at Ballymacaw, Dunmore East pleaded guilty to seven counts of deception relating to dishonestly inducing a person to take out a purported motor insurance policy at an unknown location in the State on dates in 2019 and 2020.

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Sergeant Gavin Coleman told Breffni Gordon BL, prosecuting, that Filho chose numbers at random when telling people how much the policy would cost them, with amounts ranging from €900 to €2,480.

He took a total of around €12,500 from his victims, who were under the impression they had purchased motor insurance policies, which were not actually valid. The transactions were mostly carried out over WhatsApp and Filho gained customers through word of mouth in the Brazilian community, the court heard.

Only one victim in the case handed in a victim impact statement, which was not read aloud during the sentencing hearing.

Sgt Coleman told the court that most of the victims were reluctant to engage with gardaí and the criminal justice system, and many had to be persuaded that they were not in trouble themselves.

The court heard the victims were in the country on legitimate visas and were of little means. Sgt Coleman said they wanted him to convey to the court that the losses they incurred as a result of Filho's actions were significant to them.

The court heard that Filho's actions came to light when a red flag was raised after his email address appeared in duplicate on an insurance company's online system.

When interviewed by gardaí, he made admissions. He has a previous conviction for similar deception matters as well as road traffic offences.

The court heard that after his home was searched, a motorbike worth €10,000 belonging to Filho was seized. Defence counsel was seeking to have the bike returned, the court heard.

Letters of apology from Filho and his wife were submitted to the court in mitigation.

He is originally from Brazil but has been living in Ireland since he was a teenager. The court heard he was not in a position to repay any money to his victims as he recently moved home and had to pay a deposit. He is the father of a newborn baby.

Sentencing Filho, Judge Nolan said he had taken advantage of a situation and left a number of trusting people at a loss. He noted there was excellent mitigation - particularly Filho's cooperation with gardaí and his guilty pleas. The judge said he is unlikely to reoffend.

He set a sentence of three years' imprisonment but suspended the final year on a number of conditions, including that Filho's motorbike be sold and the proceeds divided among his victims.