15/01/2018

Man jailed for orchestrating crash for cash

On 12 January 2018, Daud Khan, 20, of Cotterills Lane, Birmingham, was sentenced to two years in prison for being the instigator behind two 'crash for cash' plans, which he orchestrated with assistance from his brother and two other men.

Following an investigation by the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), all of the men pleaded guilty to their involvement in one or both of the fake car crashes and for making fraudulent injury claims.

The four men were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to the following:

Daud Khan, 20, of Cotterills Lane, Birmingham – two years in prison and banned from driving for 18 months for two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Shamus Fazil, 20, of Woodlands Road, Birmingham – one year in prison for two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Sardar Khan, 25, of Cotterills Lane, Birmingham – six months in prison suspended for two years, 150 hours unpaid work and a 20 hour rehabilitation activity requirement for two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Hassan Niaz, 23, of Farndon Road, Birmingham – six months in prison suspended for two years, 150 hours unpaid work and a 20 hour rehabilitation activity requirement for one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

The fraud first came to IFED's attention on 12 May 2016 when Acromas Insurance referred a case of a suspected 'crash for cash' which involved Daud Khan, his brother Sardar Khan and Fazil on 12 November 2015.

Footage recovered from the dash cam of the other driver revealed Daud Khan as the driver of the car and showed him perform an emergency stop on a roundabout despite not having a reason to brake.

Just a few days prior to the crash, Daud Khan had incepted a dual policy with Acromas on 9 November 2015 and with the Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) on 10 November 2015. He put Fazil as the named driver for both insurers, despite the dash cam footage clearly showing Daud Khan as the driver when the fake crash happened.

Daud Khan used a false date of birth and a false address to bring the price of each policy down and Sardar Khan's bank account was used to pay for the insurance via direct debit. The addresses were confirmed to be false by the insurers after they obtained a statement from the occupants at each address stating that none of the men had any connection to their property.

Daud Khan obtained his brother's and Fazil's national insurance number, a copy of their driving licence and their addresses, and he used these to progress personal injury claims with solicitors.

He used Fazil's home address for all of the injury claims in order to keep a central correspondence address with the solicitors and insurer, but also to make sure he distanced himself from the fraud. The personal injury files recovered by IFED officers detail that Daud Khan also provided fake identification for the men by altering details of documentation tendered as identification.

With the accumulated evidence, IFED officers executed search warrants at all of the men's home addresses on 9 August 2016. Fazil was arrested at his home, and Daud Khan was arrested later that day after he made contact with police and attended Perry Barr Police Station. Sardar Khan was also interviewed voluntarily on the 27 September 2016 at Perry Barr Police Station, and was then later summoned to appear in court.

Following a search of Daud Khan's car, a mobile phone was discovered which contained several photographs of damaged vehicles and also a number of vehicle searches on 'Auto Trader'. This raises suspicions that Daud Khan may have set up other fake crashes in the past or was intending to as he had never worked at Auto Trader and Niaz stated in an interview that he knew Daud Khan was involved in setting up crashes for fake motor and personal injury claims.

IFED officers found several claims documents at Fazil's and Daud Khan's addresses related to another car crash which had happened a few months earlier on 2 April 2015. Daud Khan and Fazil were also involved in this fake crash, along with Sardar Khan and Niaz, though Daud Khan didn't participate in this crash. There was also another man called Hamza Gel who was named as the driver, though it is believed this was a fictitious person made up by Daud Khan.

In the same way he'd set up the fake crash on 12 November 2015, Daud Khan approached the men asking them to take part in the fake crash and obtained their drivers licence, national insurance number and address. Daud Khan knew Fazil as they were friends on Facebook and he knew Niaz as they were friends at college.

The fake crash took place in Birmingham and the insured driver claimed that the men's car stopped for no reason causing the driver to collide into the back of them. After the crash, all of the men, including the supposed fictitious man Gel, made personal injury claims through a solicitors to the other driver's insurance company.

Similarly to the crash in November, Daud Khan used the same method to submit in the personal injury claims for the men. This time he used Niaz's address on the claims and once again provided false identification for the men by altering their driving licence details.

In an interview with Niaz, he stated that Daud Khan asked him to pass on all solicitors letters to him and that he asked all of them to go to a medical if requested and claim that they'd hurt their neck and shoulders in the crash. However, while they all were due to attend a medical appointment they failed to turn up on a number of occasions.

The insurance company did pay out £810 in respect of the damage to the men's car, but amid suspicions of fraud they never ended up paying out for the personal injury claims.

Niaz was voluntarily interviewed on 13 October 2016 at Stetchford Police Station in Birmingham and was then later summoned to appear at court.

City of London Police Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, who led the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department's investigation, said, 'Daud Khan was instrumental in arranging and participating in these cases of crash for cash – he orchestrated them from start to finish, and using his brother, Fazil, and Niaz as accomplices, he attempted to deceive the insurance companies and the unsuspecting drivers involved.

'Thanks to the evidence accumulated by Acromas, we were able to uncover the extent of the crimes committed by these men.

'This should act as a warning to any other people who are thinking of setting up a fake crash to make motor and personal injury claims – it is a serious crime that can endanger the lives of the innocent drivers, push up insurance premiums for all motorists and one which could see you go to jail.'