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Fraudster Footballer Callum Saunders Caught After 45-Yard Goal Appears On Soccer AM

Fraudster Footballer Callum Saunders Caught After 45-Yard Goal Appears On Soccer AM

Callum Saunders was playing - and scoring worldies - for Haywards Heath Town while claiming to Aviva for injury after a car crash

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A fraudster was caught in the act when footage of him scoring a wonder goal for his non-league football team was played on Soccer AM after he'd claimed insurance for an injured foot. You can check out Callum Saunders' worldie in the video below.

Saunders scored the free-kick, which - fair play - is an absolute thunderb***ard, for non-league Haywards Heath Town, and the strike later made it onto Sky Sports' football magazine show.

Unfortunately for the 33-year-old, he was in the middle of claiming more than £55,000 ($76,000) for injuries he said he sustained in a 2017 car crash.

Lawyers used the footage of the 45-yard belter to prove his claim was fraudulent because he'd used his right foot - which he claimed was injured - to score the goal.

Saunders goal was terrific, but landed him in serious trouble.
Soccer AM/Your Instant Replay

Insurance company Aviva's legal team showed the clip to Gloucester and Cheltenham county court, leading the lawyers to suggest he had been 'fundamentally dishonest' in his claim.

The lawyers - from Clyde & Co - pointed out that he'd claimed that he was unable to stand or walk for long periods of time as a result of his supposed injuries, and said he'd been unable to work as a self-employed plasterer for more than six months, The Times reports.

Despite that, the lawyers for the other party involved in the car crash found he'd appeared not only on television, but also on his social media accounts in posts about his appearances in semi-professional football for the club.

Haywards Heath Town had even shared footage of Saunders playing for the club during the period he claimed he was injured.

Aviva's lawyers admitted he was unable to work for some time, but argued this was because of a back injury sustained playing football.

Saunders was told that he would have to pay £13,000 ($18,000) for the insurer's investigation costs, and eventually admitted that he'd attempted to defraud the company when those costs were settled down to £5,000 ($6,900).

Following that settlement, Damian Rourke, from Clyde & Co, said Saunders 'may well have been feeling happy about his Soccer AM appearance but, in the end, it turned out to be a massive own goal'.

He continued: "Having consistently lied to increase the amount of money he thought he could claim, our investigation showed that he behaved dishonestly.

"In hindsight, you have to ask how he thought he'd get away with it after constantly posting and tweeting about his football performances."

Saunders also shared various pictures of his football career during the period he claimed he was injured.
Twitter

Rourke added: "If you exaggerate an injury for financial gain, the court can dismiss the claim and punish you."

The footballer, he said, was 'lucky not to receive a jail sentence'.

Rob Lee, the head of casualty claims at Aviva, said Saunders' case was 'a shocking example of opportunistic greed' and added that 'Saunders clearly believed his minor injury claim was an open goal'.

The footballer has now signed for Horsham FC in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Featured Image Credit: Soccer AM

Topics: SPORT, UK News, TV and Film, Football, Money, UK Entertainment, Weird, Fraud