IFED’s biggest investigation results in guilty plea from mastermind of UK-wide car insurance fraud

The biggest investigation by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) since it launched just over a year ago, has today (1 February 2013) seen a fraudster plead guilty to selling hundreds of non-existent car insurance policies to drivers across the UK. Danyal Buckharee admitted setting up two websites – Aston Midshires Insurance and First Car Direct Insurance – advertising cheap car insurance and, between May 2011 and April 2012, using them to dupe 600 drivers into buying worthless policies – pocketing over £550,000. Det Ch Insp Dave Wood, Head of IFED, said: “This is the biggest investigation we undertook in 2012 and I am very pleased that our hard work has delivered the right result, without Buckharee having to go to trial. “Buckharee masterminded an extensive car insurance fraud that made him hundreds of thousands of pounds and left hundreds of drivers unknowingly out on the road with no insurance. Buckharee exposed his victims to risk and financial loss but now it is his turn to pay the price of his fraud.” The 42-year-old, from Putney in London, sent his victims fake insurance certificates meaning some drivers only realised they had been conned when they had their car seized by police for having no insurance. Buckharee’s fraud first came to light in late 2011 when the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) began receiving an increasing number of complaints from drivers who had been stopped by police, which they passed onto the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) for review. The day IFED launched (3 January 2012), the IFB handed the reports to the unit’s detectives who launched a police investigation. Detectives arrested Buckharee in April 2012 and subsequently found evidence of the existence of four fraudulent websites: Aston Midshires Insurance, First Car Direct Insurance, Astuto Insurance and Car Insurance Warehouse. In October 2012, Buckharee was charged with two counts of fraud by false representation, one of conspiracy to defraud and three of money laundering in connection with the four websites. He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud relating to the Aston Midshires Insurance and First Car Direct Insurance websites and three counts of money laundering in relation to the four websites at the Old Bailey. Two counts of fraud, relating to Astuto Insurance and Car Insurance Warehouse, will lie on file. Det Ch Insp Wood added: “Throughout our first year in operation we have targeted insurance fraudsters in all their forms. Organised and opportunistic criminals have been treated alike, resulting in the unit apprehending hundreds of suspects and securing a growing number of convictions. In 2013 we will ensure more insurance fraudsters have their operation disrupted, dismantled and ultimately destroyed.” Ben Fletcher, Head of Operations at the IFB, said: “Illegal insurance advisors con the public by offering cheap policies which ultimately prove too good to be true. Motorists are left driving on UK roads without valid insurance and are therefore unwittingly breaking the law. “Working alongside police forces up and down the country, the IFB continues to target all forms of organised fraud, from dangerous ‘crash for cash’ scams to illegal insurance advisors – so-called ‘ghost brokers’. Since 2006, the IFB has worked alongside law enforcement agencies to help secure almost 200 years in prison for organised fraudsters and we will continue to support police forces in bringing those abusing the system and targeting the public to justice. “Today’s result is testament to the quality of information gathered by the IFB on the Aston Midshires Insurance website. It should send a clear message to would-be fraudsters – you will be caught, and you will be prosecuted.” Ashton West, Chief Executive at the MIB, said: “MIB initiated investigations with the police into the legitimacy of Aston Midshires Insurance as a result of concerns about drivers using vehicles without valid insurance cover. Suspicions were raised and we identified an illegal insurance advisor and forwarded information to the IFB. “The deception carried out by Buckharee has left a number of motorists without valid insurance cover and out of pocket. For a motor insurance policy to be valid, it has to be underwritten by a company that is a member of the MIB.” The date of Buckharee’s sentencing is to be fixed. Six other men appeared at the Old Bailey with Buckharee, each charged with one count of money laundering, and are due to appear at court again on 2 September 2013. Abdullai Alli, 46, from Croydon in London Andrew Goward, 37, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire Gary Heaven, 47, from Tulse Hill in London Kevin Lewis, 45, from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire Giovanni Recchia, 46, from Retford in Nottinghamshire Mohamed Saleh, 24, from Hammersmith in London Members of the public who want to anonymously report insurance fraud should contact the IFB Cheatline on 0800422 0421 or visit the IFB website. People who believe they are victims of fraud should contact Action Fraud.