A fraud gang which operated through an office in Exeter swindled £280,000 out of insurance companies in commissions paid for ghost policies.
Wesley Beagley and Derek Freeman carried out the carefully planned crime by stealing the identities of reputable financial companies so their crooked deals looked genuine.
They sold millions of pounds worth of bogus health and mortgage insurance products in the names of real companies but diverted the commission into their own bank accounts.
Both men created false identities for the bank accounts which they used to channel the proceeds of the fraud with at least three different names used.
The pair worked with veteran conman Brian Kiddell, who was jailed for six years earlier this year after he sold someone else's home without them realising it.
He operated out of an office in Abbots Road, Exeter, where he used addresses in East Devon in applications for 19 ghost policies which generated £25,055.77 in commissions.
Former racing tipster Beagley, aged 36, of Crossbush Road, Brighton, and Freeman, aged 42, of Wordsworth Street, Hove, admitted fraud and converting criminal property.
Retired squash Club owner Kiddell, aged 75, of Topsham Road, Exeter, admitted nine charges of fraud, theft, and the dishonest use of a dead man's passport. He was jailed for a total of six years in March.
Judge Barry Cotter, QC, said:"This was a persistent and sophisticated fraud and the full size and scale of the operation will never be known properly.
"I want to make one thing clear. No-one should consider these as victimless crimes. Their cost will not doubt find its way eventually into the pockets or ordinary consumers of insurance companies.
"This was sophisticated and was dishonest from the outset which was designed to gain them the maximum amount of money as possible from these companies.
"The extent of the offences and their protracted nature are clearly aggravating features."
Mr David Sapiecha, prosecuting, said the frauds started in 2009 when both men used the names of reputable brokers to register as agents for Prudential Protect insurance.
Beasley claimed to have sold 176 policies and Freeman 16. They generated £204,200 commissions for Beasley and £29,181 for Freeman.
The money was paid into accounts which were in different names, including Jack Johnson and Jack Davenport and taken out in cash shortly afterwards.
The scam then moved to Exeter, where Kiddell ran out of an office in Abbots Road. He used local addresses to sell 19 bogus mortgage insurance policies which paid a total of £25,055.72 commissions.
The money was paid into bank accounts controlled by Beasley and Freeman. They were traced through the money trail and Beagley was arrested as he returned to Gatwick from a house where he had been living in Alicante.
Mr William English, defending, said the men were being controlled by others who had set up the swindle and were taking most of the profits.
He said they regretted their part in the swindle and should be given credit for admitting it.
