'Ghost broker' jailed for £45,000 scam

A ‘ghost broker’ has been jailed for 12 months after an investigation by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) revealed he sold more than 100 fake motor insurance policies.

Razwan Iqbal posed as a broker working for Direct Car, advertising cheap premiums in local restaurants and visiting homes in Bradford and Leeds to sell his policies.

Iqbal obtained real insurance policies from five insurers using false personal details to obtain cheaper premiums. He then charged drivers a higher premium plus a handling fee, despite the policy becoming immediately invalid because of the false information provided.

The scam made Iqbal £45,000 and some of his victims are still struggling to find valid insurance because of being blacklisted as a result of his actions.

Iqbal first came under investigation when insurer 1st Central discovered 41 policies linked to the same email address and passed the information to IFED. Iqbal was later arrested in Leeds after IFED officers found evidence that he had paid for some of the policies using his own credit card.

DC Jamie Kirk, who led IFED’s investigation, said: “Iqbal devised a car insurance scam that saw him pocket tens of thousands of pounds by specifically targeting members of his own community.

“He left his victims unknowingly out on the road with no insurance, exposing them and other drivers to risk and financial loss with seemingly no care for the potential consequences of his actions. However, the combined expertise of IFED and 1st Central have ensured that this threat to motorists has now been shut down with the person responsible taken off the streets.”

The IFED Financial Investigation team has now begun financial confiscation proceedings against Iqbal in a bid to recover the money he made from ghost broking.