Pair Jailed For Jersey Mutual Fraud

Roy Jeanne and Michael Timms have been jailed for a combined 13 years for defrauding a Jersey insurance company out of £3.3 million.

73 year old Roy Anthony Jeanne, a former General Manager of Jersey Mutual Insurance Society, has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

Michael John Timms (74), is beginning a four year jail term.  

For a period of 13 years, from 2004 - 2017, the pair conspired to defraud Jersey Mutual - one of the island's oldest insurers.

Their long string of dishonesty offences included money laundering, larceny and falsification of accounts.

Timms owned a marketing company and assisted Jeanne by falsifying invoices. 

The Royal Court sentencing concludes a complex five year long investigation, called Operation Lavender, which involved financial crime specialists and forensic accountants.

The court commended the work of the SoJP's Jersey Financial Crimes Unit, and the Economic Crime Confiscation Unit in the Law Officers' Department, which led to a both men pleading guilty.

Attorney General Mark Temple KC says it was a comprehensive and detailed investigation:

"Securing convictions in this very complex and important case, clearly demonstrates ECCU’s ability to successfully prosecute complex fraud and money laundering, as well as the importance of having specialist financial crime prosecutors based in the Law Officers’ Department.

These prosecutions are instrumental in bringing these very difficult cases to a just conclusion.”

Jeanne admitted three counts of larceny as a servant, falsification of accounts, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud. Timms pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Timms has been disqualified from being a director for eight years.

Court proceedings to confiscate the proceeds of their crimes and recover case costs are expected to resume in April.

Detective Inspector Aiden Quenault of the Joint Financial Crimes Unit has paid tribute to the dedication, perseverance and skill of those who worked on the case:

“The States of Jersey Police are committed to thoroughly and diligently investigating all types of offending and financial crime is no different; those seeking to benefit from abusing their position in business and laundering their illicit gains will be identified, investigated and prosecuted. Every effort will be made to confiscate and return any proceeds of crime to victims.”