Man sentenced for falsely claiming his car had been stolen

Man-sentenced-for-insurance-fraud

Man falsely claimed his car had been stolen while he was on holiday

Analysis of the key fob revealed his car hadn’t been used for several months

He told insurers he paid £23,000 for the car, when he bought it for £11,247

A man has been sentenced after lying about his car being stolen in order to make a false insurance claim. He also attempted to inflate the value of his claim by exaggerating the value of the car by over £10,000.

On Friday 15th November 2019, Mohamed Soltan, 28, of London, pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and 200 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £705 compensation costs and £250 courts costs.

The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) led on the investigation following a referral from Soltan’s insurance company.

In October 2017, Soltan contacted his insurance company and claimed that his car had been stolen while he was away on holiday. However, the insurer had concerns over the validity of the claim and began looking into it further.

Detective Constable Kevin Carter, who led the investigation for the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), said:

“Soltan purchased an un-roadworthy car through an online auction. Unable to sell it on, he insured it for an inflated sum and then tried to claim that it had been stolen. Had he been successful, he would have benefitted by more than £10,000 from his insurance company.

“Thankfully, the insurers followed-up on their initial concerns and referred the case onto IFED, and our investigation resulted in Soltan getting the justice he deserved.”

The key fob for the car, which Soltan provided to the insurers and confirmed was the only one, was analysed, revealing that the car hadn’t been used since May that year.

When Soltan was presented with these findings, he initially disputed them, claiming that he’d driven the car with his girlfriend and his father on the evening before he left to go on holiday. Neither his girlfriend nor father responded to police requests for statements about these points.

It was also discovered that Soltan had lied about the value of his car in order to inflate the value of his claim. Soltan had originally bought the car for £11,247, but when he called his insurers to make his claim, he said he’d paid £23,000 for it.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR
FREE BI-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER