An Indian origin Scotland Yard officer was convicted for fraudulently planning to claim £18,415 after a staged road crash and claim compensation later.
Hardeep Dehal has been sentenced to 30 months’ immediate custody.
According to a pre-planned arrangement which took place on March 2016, the driver of a delivery van, Raiyaan Anwar, crashed into the car in East London with five people in it, including Dehal and reported the crash to his employees, retail major Tesco, as a genuine accident caused by him.
Dehal alleged that he had undergone injuries and made claims for compensation. He also submitted medical reports claiming conditions such as severe pain, discomfort and stiffness, and anxiety.
Tesco’s insurance company admitted liability, on the understanding that one of its delivery drivers had been at guilt in a genuine collision with members of the public. The amount of recompense due to each of the men was still left to be determined.
Busola Johnson of the Crown prosecution Office (CPS) said: “Hardeep Dehal claimed personal injury as a result of the staged crash and stood to gain thousands of pounds from insurance companies. Not only had he meticulously planned the fraudulent crash, but he put himself at risk of real physical harm in the pursuit of insurance money”.
“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. Payouts based on fraudulent claims lead to increased premiums for ordinary, hard-working people.”
To prove the planning behind the fraudulent collision, CPS said it used analysis of telephone data, including text messages and cell site evidence that showed the accused, between them, had exchanged 375 telephone contacts for two months shortly before the staged crash.
