Beware of bogus companies stealing plant

The Met Police's Plant & Agricultural National Intelligence Unit (PANIU) is warning companies hiring out plant about bogus construction firms following a sharp rise in the number of deception thefts of high value equipment.

It said the criminals take out insurance policies in the name of a bogus construction company with the sole intention of using the cover notes to hire large amounts of plant. Once the plant is delivered, it is then moved elsewhere and never seen again.

The unit is investigating a number of such cases, including one involving an individual using the name of Matthew Wheatley and a bogus company called Site Tec UK. 'Wheatley' is using a fraudulently-obtained Royal Sun Alliance cover note.

PANIU said companies hiring out plant should carry out all possible due diligence checks on new customers or companies applying to hire their equipment. According to PANIU, many of the hire companies that made insurance claims after their machines went missing have had them rejected if the insurers established that very few or no due diligence checks were carried out prior to the hiring out the equipment.