A NORTH-EAST businessman who faked his own death to claim the insurance money has been jailed for five years.

When customs officers stopped Alan Pike in a car leaving for the Continent, they uncovered a fraud involving theft of £85,000, an attempt to launder £56,000 and a scheme to fake his death for £890,000.

The 38-year-old of Devon Walk, Washington, Tyne and Wear, pleaded guilty to theft, money laundering and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at Canterbury Crown Court yesterday.

His wife, Kerry, 33, who pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice, was given an 18 months sentence suspended for two years.

Mark Lucraft, prosecuting, said that Pike and his wife had been stopped by customs officials at Dover in January 2001.

When searched, officers found £39,000 in his wife's bag and there was a further £13,000 in Scottish bank notes in the driver's door.

In interview, Pike said he was an offshore financial advisor who had run into financial problems and decided to live in Spain.

But inquiries revealed that he had taken the money from the company leaving nothing to pay his creditors.

In all, £142,000 was missing, but it was accepted that others had been involved in the fraud.

In February 2003, Pike's trial was due to be heard at the Canterbury court but Judge Anthony Webb was handed a death certificate showing that Alan Pike had been killed in a road accident in Kenya a month earlier.

It had been an elaborate scheme to fake his death.

Insurance polices had been put in place in 2002 and after his "death", all money had been moved into a joint account.

Inquiries in Kenya showed that the death certificate was bogus, his address was bogus and no record of a road accident could be found by police.

When interviewed by police, Mrs Pike admitted her involvement in the life insurance scam.

Andrew Rutter, mitigating, said that after setting up a successful business, Pike realised there were irregularities and that was why he closed down the company and withdrew the money.

Pike then panicked and realised others far more sophisticated and able than he was were involved.

He knew he was out of his depth and withdrawing the cash had been a desperate act in desperate times.

Caroline Goodwin, for Mrs Pike, said that her husband had acted appallingly in involving her and the family.

She said the couple had two young children and events had brought enormous stresses on them all.

Mrs Pike and the children are now living with relatives in Spain.