A teenager who attempted to sell worthless vehicle insurance on Gumtree has today (15 January 2013) been sentenced at City of London Magistrates.
Shujeh Miah was handed a 12-month conditional discharge after admitting to posting four adverts on the classifieds website in a bid to dupe drivers into paying-out for bogus policies.
But over a month (February 2012) the 19-year-old failed to persuade anyone to invest in his fraudulent scheme, with the only significant attention coming from an internet user who became suspicious of the ads and reported them to the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).
IFED detectives arrested Miah at a house on Brisbane Road, Ilford, in May 2012 and seized a computer on which they found falsified insurance certificates.
Miah was charged and pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by false representation and one of possession of a controlled article for use in fraud.
Head of IFED, DCI Dave Wood, said: "Illegal insurance advisers, known as ghost brokers, are costing the industry millions and casting thousands of drivers unknowingly into the role of law breakers as soon as they get behind the wheel with no insurance.
“Miah’s conviction provides further evidence that this type of fraud no longer goes unchecked and that IFED is making sure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
IFED was set-up with funding from the insurance industry to combat an area of criminality estimated to cost the UK economy more than £2 billion per year – the equivalent of £50 for every insurance policy holder.
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