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.
