Ghost broker who advertised fake car insurance on Gumtree receives suspended jail sentence

A London man has been given a suspended jail sentence for acting as a ‘ghost broker’ by attempting to sell worthless car insurance on Gumtree.

Mohammed Samad Ali received an eight-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work at the Old Bailey today after he admitted posting five adverts offering cheap car insurance on the classifieds website in a bid to dupe drivers into paying for phoney policies.

The poorly spelt adverts offered policies to all drivers, with discounts for anyone who brought him more customers. Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, they also attracted the attention of the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), which specialises in trawling the internet for fraudsters.

Detectives from the City of London Police unit arrested Ali at his home on Byng Street, on the Isle of Dogs, in June 2012. There they seized £1,000 in cash and a laptop, on which they later found a falsified insurance certificate.

Ali was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, fraud by false representation and possession of a controlled article for use in fraud.

DS Mark Forster, who led IFED’s investigation, said: “Ali’s conviction demonstrates that this type of insurance fraud no longer goes unchecked and that IFED is dedicated to ensuring the perpetrators are brought to justice.”