A crash-for-cash scammer has made a clean getaway it seems, by simply vanishing. Here’s the report from the City of London Police;
An outstanding defendant has been sentenced in absence for deliberately causing a collision on a busy A road, which saw an innocent driver plough into the back of a car at around 50 miles per hour. This follows on from the sentencing of his three accomplices in September 2021.
The four men went on to make claims which could have resulted in a loss of £49,869.50 to the insurer.
Damning CCTV footage and inconsistencies in the accounts of the men raised alarms bells with the insurer, who referred the case to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) for investigation. The investigation was referred to the unit by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB).
Zahid Hairan, 31, of Dryfield Road, Edgware, London, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday 13 October 2022. He was found guilty by a trial in his absence after he fled the country to avoid prosecution.
The rest of the group were also found guilty at trial for conspiracy to defraud in July 2021, and were sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Friday 17 September 2021:
- Kudrat Azizi, 35, of Poppy Court, Headstone Drive, Harrow, 9 months imprisonment.
- Ghulem Haider, 34, of Tadworth Road, Brent, 12 months imprisonment.
- Miatullah Marufkhail, 30, of Railway Approach, Harrow, 20 months imprisonment.
HOW THE SCAM WORKS
A bright green BMW 320I was being driven by Hairan onto the A1(M) in Hertfordshire with Haider in the passenger seat. Marufkhail was driving ahead of this car in a silver BMW 118D and as a slip road merged with the A-road, he slowed down whilst Hairan suddenly stopped the green BMW in front of a Peugeot 2008, causing the unknowing driver to collide into its rear at speed. The impact of the crash deployed the Peugeot’s airbags, as well as shattering the windscreen and causing substantial damage to the front of the vehicle.
The silver BMW sped off as Hairan and the driver of the Peugeot, who sustained injuries to his hand and forearm, pulled over to exchange details.
Around an hour after the collision occurred, Hertfordshire Police stopped the silver BMW on the same A-road, the driver identified himself as Marufkhail. In the months following the crash, a number of personal injury claims were made against the Peugeot driver’s insurer by Hairan, Haider and Azizi. The Peugeot driver had only seen two occupants in the car, meaning that Azizi made his claim as a phantom passenger.
The initial claims forms submitted by the men were almost identical, with each citing whiplash-type injuries sustained to the neck and back, that they sought medical attention the day after the accident and that they did not take any time off from work as a result of the accident. However, the medical reports which were later provided stated that Haider had been unable to work for four weeks due to the injuries, whilst Azizi had taken four months off from work.
A £6,930 claim for the cost of a hire car was also submitted, which had been ordered as a replacement for the green BMW.
GUESS WHAT, ONE OF THEM WAS WANTED ON OTHR MATTERS
Home Office Immigration Enforcement arrested Marufkhail for an unrelated matter in October 2017. During a search of his property, documentation was seized which related to both the silver and green BMWs, indicating a connection between the men.
IFED later arrested and interviewed Haider and Marufkhail on the same day. Marufkhail provided a prepared statement which denied his involvement in the fraud and asserted that he was not driving the silver BMW at the time of the collision. Haider told officers that he did not recall the exact events which led to the crash as he was on his phone, but he did confirm that Azizi was not a passenger in the green BMW and that Marufkhail was driving the silver BMW ahead.
Azizi was also questioned by IFED officers, during which he admitted to knowing the other suspects during the interview. He insisted that he had no knowledge of the collision and that he had not attended a medical examination for the personal injury claim.
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