Ghost brokers sentenced
Four men from Birmingham have been sentenced after a ghost-broker insurance scam was uncovered by detectives from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), part of the City of London Police.
Mohammed Aquil, along with Amjad Hussain, Alwyn Snape and Anees Ahmed, conspired together to defraud insurance companies by providing false details and forged documents in order to get cheaper premiums for their motor insurance.
The main ghost broker and ‘architect’ behind the scam – Aquil – was making motor insurance applications on behalf of his ‘clients’ to get them cheaper car insurance deals. However, the reason he was able to get them cheaper deals was because he changed key information on the applications, such as the home address, dates of birth, or no-claims details.
He would then charge his ‘clients’ between £250-£500 for brokering the deal, but in reality, those people were holding invalid insurance because Aquil had provided false details to the insurance companies.
The scam was uncovered when investigators at Ageas noticed that three separate motor insurance policies had been taken out for Snape, Hussain and Ahmed. Common to all three policies was that their home address was in Birmingham, but the address where the vehicles were being stored overnight was stated as being at a holiday cottage in Somerset.
Paula Howett, fraud and risk manager at Ageas Insurance Ltd said, ‘Cases such as this demonstrate how important it is for insurers to stay ahead of fraudsters and their ever-evolving tactics. Ageas uses a combination of anti-fraud measures at point of sale and claim, including investment in a dedicated underwriting team and training of astute claims handlers with the skills to pick up the signs of fraud. In this way we help to ensure innocent policyholders are not paying for the dishonesty of a select few.’
