Supporting law enforcement
Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. The costs associated with fraudulent claims is borne by honest policyholders and in some cases, fraudsters put innocent lives on the line in order to profit from their fraud.
The IFB plays an important role assisting police investigations into organised insurance fraud and helping to bring fraudsters to justice.
There are a number of ways in which we work alongside police forces from across the UK:
- We use our unique access to a wide variety of insurance records to help law enforcement agencies understand the full extent of fraudsters' activities
- We work with Police forces to research evidence obtained by the police through wider investigations
- We coordinate the production of customers' witness statements and secure their evidence so that police can use it in their prosecution of insurance fraudsters.
Since our formation in 2006 we've successfully worked alongside police forces from across the UK, supporting arrests and helping secure jail time for convicted fraudsters.
Case Study: Operation Saisir
A crooked claims management company provided the seemingly legitimate front to a £6.5 million attempted ‘Crash for Cash’ scam across Greater London, which was exposed by the IFB. Ringleaders Masi Naqshbandi and Sabaoon Hillaman used their registered accident management company – Real Accident Helpline – to coordinate the scam, orchestrating fake accidents across London, which resulted in more than 250 fraudulent insurance claims being submitted in a single year.
Having identified the ringleaders, the IFB supported the Metropolitan Police’s CO15 Unit, leading to the arrest and prosecution of Naqshbandi and Hillaman, and unprecedented prison sentences totalling more than 12 years combined for their parts in organising hundreds of staged and contrived accidents.
