Fraudster jailed for stealing thousands through false claims and siphoning money from employer
Man made a number of false claims for burglary, theft and damage to his property
He lied to several insurers about his insurance history to secure better policies
He also diverted over £18,000 into his own account when he worked at a claims management company
A man has been jailed after he attempted to make a series of fraudulent claims on policies, he’d been able to secure by lying to insurers about his poor insurance history. He also diverted approximately £18,000 into his own account when he worked at a claims management company and attempted to divert nearly £17,000 more.
On Thursday 10th October 2019, at Leeds Crown Court, Mohammed Aumran, 42, of Leeds, was sentenced to three years and one-month imprisonment. A month earlier (Monday 9th September 2019), at the same court, he pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud by false representation and one count of fraud by abuse of position.
Initial discovery of fraud
The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) launched an investigation into Aumran after a referral from AXA Insurance.
AXA had discovered that Aumran had lied when he bought a home insurance policy, stating that in the previous five years he hadn’t had any policies cancelled or refused and hadn’t made any claims. AXA also found out that he’d purchased a car insurance policy and provided a false five-year no claims discount letter.
Further fraudulent claims
IFED’s investigation uncovered further policies linked to Aumran with Allianz, NFU Mutual and RSA Insurance Group, which he’d also been able to get by lying about his insurance history. Aumran used alias names when buying these policies to try and avoid being caught, and even went to the lengths of changing his real name by deed poll to secure the policy with NFU Mutual.
Whenever Aumran was successful in obtaining a policy, he went on to make fraudulent high value claims for theft, burglary and damage to his property - including numerous escapes of water.
Money stolen from employer
IFED also discovered that Aumran had provided fake referee details to secure employment at a claims management company. In his role, he would act on behalf of taxi drivers if they were involved in an accident, and assist in negotiating a settlement for vehicle repairs with the insurer of the third party involved.
In cases where liability for an accident was accepted by the third party and a settlement was reached, Aumran would provide the insurers with his own bank account details for them to pay into. In total, Aumran stole £8,919 and attempted to steal £16,882 more.
On top of this, Aumran also managed to steal £9,272 from a motor garage that had a previous contract with the claims management company, which gave them exclusivity for the repair work of accidentally damaged taxis. Aumran approached the garage to recommence the arrangement and diverted their payments into his own account.
Aumran was dismissed by the management company, who also found out that he’d inflated his position within the company to provide a reference for his niece, falsely claiming she worked there too, in order to help her get a job at another company.
Aumran denied all of the allegations of fraud during his interviews.
Detective Sergeant Andy Thomas, who led the investigation for IFED, said:
“It’s clear from this case that Aumran is a wholly deceitful person. He was continually dishonest to insurers over many years in order to make numerous fraudulent claims against them and he not only defrauded his employer to initially get a job, but also abused that position to steal tens of thousands of pounds.
“His fraudulent actions and lies have eventually caught up with him, and thanks to the continued support from AXA, RSA, Aviva, Allianz and NFU Mutual throughout our investigation, we have been able to bring this serial offender to justice.”
Tom Wilson, Counter Fraud Manager, AXA Insurance commented:
“We are glad we referred a serial fraudster to IFED. This case shows industry-wide cooperation is crucial to detect insurance fraud, whether at point of claim or at point of application. We will continue to fight that constant battle to protect honest customers.”