Jail for ghost insurance broker from Leeds

A fraudster dubbed the “ghost broker” for selling invalid car insurance to more than 100 Asian motorists in Leeds and Bradford has been jailed.

Razwan Iqbal, of Upland Grove, Oakwood, posed as a car insurance broker operating under the company name Direct Car, advertising cheap premiums in local restaurants.

He obtained real insurance policies from five insurers using false personal details to get the premiums at a cheaper price and then charged drivers more than the insurance cost to buy, plus a handling fee.

The scam made him £45,000 but left his victims without proper insurance and, in some cases, blacklisted as a result.

The 33-year-old was yesterday jailed at Leeds Crown Court for 12 months for five counts of fraud and three months concurrent for one coount of money laundering.

Det Con Jamie Kirk, of the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, 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.”

The scam was exposed in 2012 when 41 insurance policies were linked to the same email address by 1st Central insurance company. The insurer referred the case to the IFED, who found that some of the policies had been paid for by Iqbal. He was arrested last year.

The IFED Financial Investigation team has now begun confiscation proceedings against Iqbal in a bid to recover money he made through the scam.

Glen Marr, director of fraud at 1st Central, commented: “1st Central’s fraud prevention defences successfully identified this ghost broker and we are pleased they have now been brought to justice.”