Wembley fraudster handed suspended sentence in 'cash-for-crash' scam (From Harrow Times)

Wembley fraudster Jamshid Ahmadzai handed suspended sentence in 'cash-for-crash' scam

9:10am Saturday 8th October 2011 in News By David Hardiman

A WEMBLEY fraudster who was the ringleader in a £50,000 insurance scam has been handed a suspended sentence.

Jamshid Ahmadzai, 20, of Harrow Road, was a passenger in a Vauxhall Corsa which cut across his friend's Ford Mondeo in Wanstead on July 21, 2009, forcing an innocent Sky van driver to hit the back of the Mondeo.

Ahmadzai and friend Ali Saleem Akhter, of The Larches, Watford, were main players in an organised gang which orchestrated two other collisions on September 11, 2007, in the A41, and on the M4 on November 9, 2009.

Others were lured into the fraud by gang members, who then submitted fake insurance claims totalling more than £50,000.

At Harrow Crown Court today, Ahmadzai was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for one count of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Chalmers, of the Metropolitan Police's Traffic Unit, warned drivers to be vigilant after an increase in "cash-for-crash" schemes.

He said: “In the past 18 months more than 100 people have been arrested by the Met as part of numerous investigations in relation to vehicle insurance fraud.

“Many of them have never been in trouble with the police before but are lured in the misheld belief that there are no risks and the money is easy to make. They will now have a criminal record which will affect their job and other prospects.

“Not only is it a criminal offence to arrange a car collision or to allow your vehicle to be used in one, it is extremely dangerous with every chance that people’s lives will be at risk.”

Insurance industry figures show there are at least 30,000 fraudulent claims every year in the UK, putting an extra £44 on average to annual insurance premiums.

Anyone with information on insurance scams can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or the confidential Insurance Fraud Bureau Cheatline on 0800 328 2550.

• Sherwan Raja, 40, of Thimblemill Road, Smethwick, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, for one count of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.
• Qasim Mehmood, 28, of Clifford Court, Tanfield Avenue, who put in a false claim as a rear seat passenger, will be sentenced later today.
• Ali Saleem Akhter, 25, of The Larches, Watford, was sentenced to eight months in prison for one count of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.
• Jalal Arabi, 20, of New Chapel Square, Feltham, received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, for one count of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.
• Fawad Khan, 25, of Weirside Gardens, West Drayton, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for one count of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.
• Amin Beg, 25, of Newnham Close, Northolt, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for one count of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies.