Company director pleads guilty to attempted £2m factory fire insurance fraud

Factory fire shows dangerous face of insurance fraud

A company director has admitted starting a fire at his printer supply factory in Dundee, in an attempt to gain £2m compensation from its insurer, Allianz.

The fire occurred on 11 February 2018 in a room storing ink cartridges. Two companies located in the building, Fazteck and Chohan, which were managed by the same family, filed claims for losses totalling just over £2m. However, investigations established the cause of the damage as arson.

Haroon Bashir, a director at both Fazteck and Chohan, pleaded guilty to wilful fire raising and attempted fraud as his case was heard recently at the Dundee Sheriff Court.

Besides establishing naked flames had started the blaze, investigations found CCTV footage from the time of the fire showing Mr Bashir emerging from smoke coming out of the building. And a search of the Fazteck premises recovered policy documents where information on claims pay-outs had been highlighted.

Sentence has been deferred.

James Burge, head of counter fraud at Allianz Commercial, commented: “Thankfully no one was hurt in this case but I cannot stress enough how dangerous fire can be. We are also grateful that the investigations into this arson quickly established the facts, thanks to efficient collaboration between all involved, including loss adjusters and forensic engineers, to assist the police. We hope this case works as a deterrent for other would-be fraudsters.”

Authored by Allianz