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Juliet Martinessa, who was convicted in January 2015 for claiming £44,000 in benefits through fraudulent means, has now been handed another jail sentence – this time for taking out insurance policies without disclosing her prior conviction.
In the previous case, Martinessa – who had starred in a Playboy film and was known at the time by her birth name Julia Martinez – pleaded guilty to obtaining the benefits by lying about her ability to continue working as a model and an actress. She was then sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and given a confiscation order for £50,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Changing her name following the conviction, the woman was able to buy or renew eight policies for motor or household insurance between February 2015 and June 2017 at lower premiums than appropriate by not revealing the benefits fraud offense.
Martinessa’s past conviction, however, came to light during an insurer’s probe into a washing machine leak claim. The case was referred to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), whose investigation pointed to the multiple fraudulent insurance applications.
Yesterday she was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to eight months imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud by failing to disclose information.
“It appears that Martinessa didn’t learn anything from her previous fraud conviction, and was foolish enough to think she could get away with obtaining cheaper insurance by not disclosing this information,” commented IFED’s Detective Constable Kevin Carter. “Hopefully she’s now learnt her lesson and will think twice before attempting it again.
“This sentencing is not only a warning to her, but anyone else thinking of misleading an insurance company. Failure to disclose any convictions is a criminal offence. If you commit insurance fraud, you will be caught and you will be brought to justice.”
