Criminal gang sentenced for using fraudulent bank cards to claim car insurance refunds

City of London Police

A criminal gang, which included 11 people from Rochdale, have been sentenced for conspiracy to defraud an insurance company and money laundering offences, after each claimed refunds on several car insurance policies that were originally bought with compromised bank cards.

Following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), with assistance from the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and insurance company 1st Central, all of the people pleaded guilty.

The 13 people were sentenced to the following:

• Mohammed Shoaib, 22, of Maple Street, Rochdale – 21 months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud.
• Waqaas Jabbar, 25, of Heath Street, Rochdale – 16 months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 250 hours unpaid work. 
• Amjad Mughal, 39, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale – six months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 220 hours unpaid work. 
• Zenab Asif, 23, of Rochdale Road, Manchester – five months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 210 hours unpaid work.
• Aqeel Ashraf, 34, of Spinners Green, Rochdale – five months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 210 hours unpaid work.
• Mohammed Mushitaq, 24, of Heath Street, Rochdale – five months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months and 210 hours of unpaid work. 
• Abdul Mobeen, 27, of Birch Hey Close, Rochdale – five months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours unpaid work. 
• Hamza Matloob, 21, of Denehurt Road, Rochdale – five months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours unpaid work. 
• Faiza Arshad, 21, of Drake Street, Rochdale – three months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud, suspended for 12 months, and 190 hours unpaid work. 
• Mohammed Abbas, 23, of Maple Street, Rochdale – two months imprisonment for money laundering. 
• Arfan Ajaib, 28, Rooley Moor Road, Rochdale – six weeks imprisonment for money laundering, added to 13 months imprisonment for previous driving offences. 
• Andrew Marlow, 24, of Dalton Close, Rochdale – 12 month community order for money laundering, and 160 hours unpaid work. 
• Yasmin Ali Murphy, 27, of Ormerod Street, Accrington – 12 month community order for money laundering, and 120 hours unpaid work. 

The fraud was initially brought to light when the acquirers for 1st Central identified two unusually large refunds for two motor insurance policies paid into the bank account belonging to Mughal, both bought with a compromised bank card.

An internal investigation discovered 32 other motor insurance policies that were also purchased using compromised bank cards.

Further investigations revealed that a few days after the motor insurance policies were first purchased, each person then bought additional cover for the policy, but this time using a different, legitimate bank card belonging to them.

The person claiming to be the policyholder then requested for the policy to be cancelled and the full refund made onto the legitimate bankcard, which was used to purchase the additional cover. In total, over £95,000 worth of insurance policies were refunded into bank accounts in the names of the 13 people involved.

A spokesperson for IFED, said: “This should hopefully serve as a warning to anyone else who is participating in this type of criminal act – you will get caught and you will be dealt a fitting punishment.”

A spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Police, said: “GMP is committed to working with other law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute individuals who seek to profit from crime – an excellent result."