http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/claims-foiled-by-search-engine/2009/06/17/1244918083974.html
Claims foiled by search engine
Erik Jensen, Thomas Graham and Josephine Tovey | June 18, 2009
A SIMPLE Google search may prove Clint Elford's undoing.
When the insurance company Allianz did an online check of a medical report supplied by the 27-year-old Goulburn man, it is
alleged it found the names of some of the doctors mentioned in the document were misspelt.
Allianz contacted police who began an investigation. On Tuesday morning Elford was talking to a television crew about the $30,000 he had donated to the Cronulla Sharks when he was arrested.
It was a staggering reversal of fortune. A few months ago he was wealthy - insurance company, AIG Life, had paid a $525,000 life insurance claim.
But it is understood that Elford spent every cent and yesterday was unable to find anyone who could offer the $50,000 surety he needed to be released on bail from Silverwater Jail. Elford was charged with two counts of making a false statement to obtain money and another of making and using a false statutory declaration.
He is accused of producing false documents and forging medical records.
The image the prosecution tried to paint of Elford yesterday in Sutherland Magistrates Court was that of a man prone to fantasy. A
man whose allegedly forged documents have been described by insurers as amateur at best, but who, it is claimed, still managed to claim at least $525,000 in life insurance.
He has written poetry and claimed to be a successful novelist, stuntman and wrestler. Most seriously, he claimed to have Shy-Drager syndrome, a rare and degenerative nerve condition that most often affects men over 60.
Those who know him in Goulburn said that he was a lonely figure. One of 11 children, he spent much of his childhood in the library at St Patrick's College.
He was a frequent visitor to Ademeitis Showcase Jewellers. A sales assistant, Nicola Roy, said: "He talks a lot about money and how much everything costs and where things are from, but he doesn't actually buy much.
He's got quite a feminine personality. He's bought a few things in to be cleaned, like some pearls and a titanium bracelet."
The court heard yesterday that on March 24, Elford applied for and was granted a $1.5 million life insurance policy with Allianz by filling out an online questionnaire. There were no medical tests. But nine days later, when he made his first claim, alarm bells sounded.
The court heard that investigators at the company checked his claim. They ran a Google search on the doctors mentioned and found that their names were misspelt.
It is alleged that Allianz called the doctors to which the original documents were attributed. They said they had examined Elford a few years ago but only for a minor complaint.
The insurance company became convinced he was not sick and called police.
"This is a very protracted and involved fraud by the defendant," Sergeant Paul Upsall, a police prosecutor, told the court yesterday.
"The police believe there may well be other insurance claims that have not been put as yet."
The court also heard that Elford had previously been given a suspended sentence for lying to police.
Elford published poetry on literary websites. His topics ranged from nature and mortality to the celebrity wrestler Hulk Hogan.
"A comic book superhero for reality," he wrote. "The stuff of every kid's dreams/ Watching you I believe/ That I can live again/ Like the ultimate Hulkamanic."
His case was adjourned until June 24.
OMG, just OMG. What a circus.
Tony Zappia knew of forgery claims
EXCLUSIVE by Josh Massoud
June 18, 2009 12:00am
FORMER Sharks boss Tony Zappia knew that would-be benefactor Clint Elford was under police investigation when he accepted $30,000 worth of cheques from the alleged fraudster.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Zappia received express advice from his lawyer, Pat Agostino, against dealing with Elford in January. Agostino informed Zappia that police were looking into claims of forgery against the 27-year-old, based on a complaint from another solicitor in September 2008.
But despite being warned, Zappia accepted and banked six cheques from Elford that were allegedly sent the following month. Elford was arrested on Tuesday and yesterday faced court on three counts of fraud, with police alleging he obtained a $520,000 life insurance payout by deception.
It's now alleged the $30,000 he donated to Cronulla was part of the illegitimate payout, received after Elford allegedly convinced an insurance company that he was dying from the rare terminal neurological disorder Shy Drager Syndrome.
Among the documents allegedly used to support his insurance claim - and representations made to Zappia - was a letter from a law firm based in Castle Hill.
Elford allegedly copied the firm's letterhead and forged the signature of one of its solicitors in written correspondence to Zappia, which informed the then Sharks boss he had been made executor of the Goulburn man's $13.8 million estate.
The Daily Telegraph has now learned Zappia passed the letter on to Agostino after meeting his lawyer about a separate matter in January.
It's believed Zappia was harbouring doubts about Elford's bona fides after he was made executor without meeting the 27-year-old.
Agostino promptly contacted the Castle Hill firm and was told the letter was a forgery. He was also told the matter had been reported to Castle Hill police on September 24, 2008.
In his next meeting with Zappia, Agostino relayed that information and his concerns.
But Zappia went ahead and accepted all six $5000 cheques Elford allegedly sent to him less than a month later. Agostino declined to comment yesterday, citing solicitor-client privilege. Zappia did not return calls. But sources close to the ex-Sharks boss last night claimed the near-contemporaneous arrival of the cheques - which were real - countered Agostino's advice and convinced Zappia to maintain contact with Elford. Four cheques were banked into funds belonging to the Beyond Sharks Foundation, a company Zappia established to receive monies from Elford.
The remaining two - made out to Zappia and sent to his home address - were passed on in cash to Sharks coaching staff and spent on a team camp and equipment. Kept in the dark about the arrangements, Cronulla's board this week hired a private investigator to pore over the receipts. Findings are expected tomorrow and will be passed on to the NRL, which is poised to conduct its own salary cap investigation in step with police inquires about Elford's case.
No wonder reefy thought zappia was a top shelf kinda guy. :sarcasm::sarcasm:
Coolumsharkie,
This speaks volumes about your club, I understand that this may upset you, but please try to keep your response free of references to my wife and rape. Not the best idea you have had.
