0:00:02 > 0:00:06Insurance fraud in the UK has hit epidemic levels.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09It's costing us over £2 billion every year.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12That's almost £6 million every day.
0:00:13 > 0:00:19Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injuries, even phantom pets -
0:00:19 > 0:00:22the fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26And every year it is adding over £50 to your insurance bill.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30But insurers are fighting back,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33exposing 15 fake claims every hour.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35Armed with covert surveillance systems...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38That is the subject out of the vehicle...
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..sophisticated data analysis techniques...
0:00:42 > 0:00:45..and a highly skilled, dedicated police unit...
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Police, don't move! Stay where you are!
0:00:47 > 0:00:51- ..they're catching the criminals red-handed.- Don't lie to us.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55All those con men, scammers and cheats on the fiddle are now
0:00:55 > 0:00:56caught in the act
0:00:56 > 0:00:58on Claimed And Shamed.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Coming up.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Motorists find their insurance policies aren't worth the paper
0:01:10 > 0:01:12they're written on.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I felt sick to my stomach at what could have happened, of the ifs
0:01:15 > 0:01:19and buts of - had he had an accident, what would have happened?
0:01:19 > 0:01:21The IFED team makes an unexpected discovery.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23On searching one of the upstairs bedrooms
0:01:23 > 0:01:25in the airing cupboard there were five
0:01:25 > 0:01:27cannabis plants being grown.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Even though it was a small set-up, it's a professional one.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33And a dodgy life insurance claim kicks the bucket.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35If you're planning to fake your own death, don't bother.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Car insurance costs for young people have hit an all-time high,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47with policies that are far more expensive than the cars they cover.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48It's no surprise, then,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52that many young drivers feel they are being priced off the roads.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56That's where this man, Daniel Bukhari, sped to the rescue.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59He ran several websites that specialised in affordable
0:01:59 > 0:02:01insurance for young drivers.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Young drivers like Ashley Whittaker, who needed to watch every penny.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11My son, Ashley, he was on an apprenticeship - £2.50 an hour.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14He decided he wanted to buy a car, so saved up his own money,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16bought his own car - a little Peugeot 1.1,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18which was the cheapest thing on insurance.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22With many years' experience of buying motor insurance,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Ashley's dad, Nick, offered to shop around on his son's behalf.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28It wasn't long before he came across Aston Midshires,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31one of Daniel Bukhari's sites.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Aston Midshires, it was there for young drivers,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36people who wanted to get on the insurance ladder.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I think I spoke to the company three or four times,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and three or four different people answered the telephone.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44It seemed like Nick had found a great deal for his son,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46and Ashley went ahead with the policy.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50It was £500 cheaper, but it was still £2,800 and something.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Paid a lump sum upfront direct from his bank, of about £1,200
0:02:54 > 0:02:58and then he started paying £118 a month from his bank account.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Thinking they were on to a good deal, Nick
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and Ashley even began recommending Aston Midshires to friends.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10The point where we became suspicious of the company was in January
0:03:10 > 0:03:12following the September when he took the insurance out.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15My son got a phone call from a friend of his who wanted to
0:03:15 > 0:03:18insure his car because he had passed his test.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19He'd given them the landline number
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and it was just ringing and ringing,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and at that stage, I started to think
0:03:23 > 0:03:26maybe there is something not right with this.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Nick investigated further and discovered that
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Ashley's insurance was totally worthless.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34As soon as we found out, we went straight to the bank
0:03:34 > 0:03:37to stop all standing orders going to this company.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39They didn't know it then, but Ashley had been
0:03:39 > 0:03:43the victim of the biggest ghost-broking fraud in the UK.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Ghost brokers are fraudsters who pose as agents to con people into
0:03:48 > 0:03:53buying insurance policies that don't exist, let alone provide any cover.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Daniel Bukhari took ghost broking to the next level,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00setting up multiple websites and companies.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03DC Patrick Einsmann, from the City of London Police's IFED,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06specialises in busting ghost-broking gangs.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09He has seen first-hand how they operate.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11You can be given the paperwork, you can
0:04:11 > 0:04:16speak to people in virtual offices and ultimately you will be paying
0:04:16 > 0:04:20for nothing and you will be left with just a hole in your pocket.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22But nothing prepared him for the scale
0:04:22 > 0:04:24and complexity of Bukhari's fraud.
0:04:24 > 0:04:30The Aston Midshires scam had been going since September 2011.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33It had been up and running three months by the time it got
0:04:33 > 0:04:34to my desk.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39Little did I know I was going to spend two years dedicated to it.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Pat checked out the site and, just like Nick,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44found nothing immediately suspicious about it.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48It was a very authentic website on day one when I looked.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It had the reviews from members of the public.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55It had an FCA licence number.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58It had everything you would need to obtain a quote.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03It even had a link to a virtual office, where you could call
0:05:03 > 0:05:05the number and you would speak to professional-sounding people.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09That's the main thing, if you speak to someone who sounds very
0:05:09 > 0:05:13professional on the phone, you know, very professional, slick operation.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15You're not necessarily going to be wary.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Everything seemed legitimate,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19even down to the high prices,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23which were only slightly less than the real policies.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Once Pat realised the extent of the scam,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28he moved quickly to protect the huge number of people at risk.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31There were over 500 to 600 victims.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33We had to put a national alert out straightaway, just to make sure
0:05:33 > 0:05:36people weren't driving on the roads without insurance.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40The vast numbers involved meant Pat had uncovered the UK's largest
0:05:40 > 0:05:42ghost-broking scam.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45He now set his sights on the man behind it.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47It took a long time to get Daniel Bukhari.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50He was very good at covering his tracks.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51A lot of phone numbers, vehicles.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54When you get one lucky breakthrough in a case -
0:05:54 > 0:05:57we found a vehicle that was linked to him, tracked him down to
0:05:57 > 0:06:02the address in south-west London, and to finally arrest someone
0:06:02 > 0:06:06that you've been looking for over a year, it's a great feeling.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08When IFED raided the property,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12they found themselves in the middle of a virtual fraud factory.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14As we walked through the door,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17there were people making payments to him over the phone.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20They even had office noise in the background on an iPod,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23so that when he was speaking to customers, it would
0:06:23 > 0:06:26appear that he was working in a busy insurance environment.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32He knew why I was there. The game was up.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34As a result of the raid,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37IFED collected enough evidence to charge Bukhari.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41The case was brought to court and justice was served.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Daniel Bukhari was a career criminal,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48so he knows the risks he takes when he commits his offences.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52He had his lifestyle, he spent victims' money in casinos,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54fast cars, lavish lifestyle.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58His callous scam was hugely lucrative.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00I think within a week of it being up and running,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03he had made £40,000 or £45,000,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05and that was only in a week.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09In all, he was thought to have scammed £550,000
0:07:09 > 0:07:11from the young people he targeted.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14For that, he was sentenced to 4½ years.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Meanwhile, his victims were left with nothing.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Their hard-earned cash was gone for good.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24We've not been able to reclaim one penny of the money.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Daniel Bukhari heartlessly stole from the people who could least afford it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29But what's worse for the victims
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and their families is the thought of what could have gone wrong.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36I felt sick to the stomach of what could have happened,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40of the ifs and buts of, had he had an accident, what would have happened?
0:07:40 > 0:07:43The police and the insurance industry are determined
0:07:43 > 0:07:45to scare off ghost-broking fraudsters.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Linsey White of the Association of British Insurers has some
0:07:49 > 0:07:50advice for anyone who is concerned.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54There are a number of things that someone can do
0:07:54 > 0:07:57if they think they have been affected by a ghost broker.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00They can always check with the Motor Insurance Database, which is
0:08:00 > 0:08:01a list of the UK's registered,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04valid and genuine insurance policies.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08The Motor Insurer's Database allows car owners to enter
0:08:08 > 0:08:10their registration number free of charge to check
0:08:10 > 0:08:13whether their car is listed as being insured.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Drivers can also protect themselves by being on the alert
0:08:16 > 0:08:18for ghost-broking giveaways.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20They tend to use personal mobile phones
0:08:20 > 0:08:24on any internet advertisements. They also tend to ask people
0:08:24 > 0:08:29to pay up front or in monthly instalments over the internet.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31In addition, all insurers should be registered
0:08:31 > 0:08:34with the Financial Services Authority.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36The insurance industry is determined
0:08:36 > 0:08:38to bring ruthless ghost brokers to justice.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41We take this very seriously, and anyone out there,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44any ghost brokers who think they can get away with this, think again.
0:08:52 > 0:08:53Still to come.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57A woman who faked her death is discovered alive and well.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00She's not dead. She was living in Hornchurch!
0:09:00 > 0:09:04And a van driver finds out why you shouldn't mess with a double-decker.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Why take the chance? Buses weigh 15 tonnes.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09If they hit you, you're going to know about it.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19or IFED for a short, is an insurance scammer's worst nightmare.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24IFED is a dedicated team that deals with insurance fraud.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Whatever insurance policy there is out there, we investigate it.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30There is a dedicated 40-strong unit
0:09:30 > 0:09:34that work 24/7 hunting down insurance fraudsters.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36The team was set up over two years ago
0:09:36 > 0:09:39to crack down on insurance crime in the UK.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Is there anything here that shouldn't be here?
0:09:41 > 0:09:43That we're going to find?
0:09:43 > 0:09:46In that time, it's made over 450 arrests
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and seen over 200 prosecutions.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54If it's a fraud that's in insurance, then it may well
0:09:54 > 0:09:57come to IFED's attention and IFED will take the necessary action.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Police! Don't move, stay where you are!
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Today, DI Dominic Parkin is on the trail of suspects believed
0:10:08 > 0:10:12to be connected to a potentially fraudulent road traffic accident.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16We think this particular accident is a staged accident in
0:10:16 > 0:10:19a cash for crash type of fraud or scam.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24IFED believes that both parties knew each other
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and deliberately staged the accident in order to claim insurance pay-outs.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31With several passengers claiming for personal injury
0:10:31 > 0:10:32as well as damage to the vehicles,
0:10:32 > 0:10:37it was estimated that the claim could run into tens of thousands of pounds.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41What the insurance companies did spot is the commercial
0:10:41 > 0:10:45vehicle was fitted with something called Telematics
0:10:45 > 0:10:49and this is the vehicle fleet equivalent of a black box
0:10:49 > 0:10:51that's fitted in aircraft
0:10:51 > 0:10:55and it showed that the commercial van, immediately prior to the
0:10:55 > 0:11:00accident, was circling around the area stopping and starting.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02For the raid, Dominic and his IFED team
0:11:02 > 0:11:05have been joined by police officers from the local force.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08They're on their way to arrest two of the suspects
0:11:08 > 0:11:09and collect potential evidence.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11We're going to search the houses.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15I'm looking for evidence of them communicating with each other.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17The operation involves a double raid,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20but Dominic is focusing on the two main suspects.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26The team arrive at the property.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28It's important for them to remain unseen
0:11:28 > 0:11:30until they move in to carry out the raid.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33We've parked our vehicles out of sight
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and we're going to see what happens.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37The IFED team approaches the house.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41It's early in the morning, so the suspects should be at home.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Police. Do you want to open up? Cheers.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53It looks like she was just woken up.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59At last, they gain access, but the film crew stay outside the property.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Morning. City of London Police, Insurance Fraud Unit.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03- Can we come in?- The what?
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Insurance Fraud Unit. I need to speak to you.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Who else is in the house, please?
0:12:10 > 0:12:13We've had a report from an insurance company
0:12:13 > 0:12:16that there's been a fraudulent claim made on a motor insurance
0:12:16 > 0:12:21policy involving your car. It's the accident that happened outside here.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23OK? So that's why we're here.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26You can give us all the explanation at the station if you wish to.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Turning up early has paid off.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Good news. Both people are in the house that we're after.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36We've woken her up. She was actually asleep in bed
0:12:36 > 0:12:38so she was surprised to see us and
0:12:38 > 0:12:41she's just getting dressed so that she can come back to the station.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43The IFED team begins the search
0:12:43 > 0:12:46for potential phone and paperwork evidence,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49but they soon discover rather more than they bargained for.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- Can I have a look at the airing cupboard?- Yeah, go for it.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- Was that in there?- Yeah.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58- How many?- Five up there in the airing cupboard.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01When we first went in this house,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05we noticed there was quite a strong smell of cannabis.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07What I thought initially was, it may have been the evening before,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10they'd had a joint, but on searching one of the upstairs
0:13:10 > 0:13:13bedrooms, there's an airing cupboard,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17and in the airing cupboard there's five cannabis plants being grown.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20And even though it's a small set-up, it's a professional one.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23I've got some pictures here. As you can see, the cannabis plants being
0:13:23 > 0:13:26grown, there's five there. To get rid of the smell, there's
0:13:26 > 0:13:30quite a good filtration system here and there's the heat lamp above
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and just here you can see the extractor pipe,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37which takes the strong odour out of the house.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41That's often the case,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44you will go to find or to arrest for one thing
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and you discover another, but recently we are finding these
0:13:48 > 0:13:52cannabis cultivation set-ups more commonly.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Cannabis plants like these can be worth a small fortune.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00We've also found a biscuit tin. In there there are small
0:14:00 > 0:14:05bags of cannabis and about 50 self-seal plastic bags
0:14:05 > 0:14:07to put small amounts of cannabis in.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12We're now going to dismantle this cultivation set-up
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and also take the plants away to be examined,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19to prove that the plants are cannabis.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22And that's another matter that they've been arrested for
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and will be questioned about later this morning.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29The local officers are going to deal with the drug offences,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31and the IFED officers will continue
0:14:31 > 0:14:34with the insurance fraud investigation.
0:14:34 > 0:14:35The search continues
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and it's not long before Dominic finds potential evidence.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Mobile phones have been found and seized.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46These will need testing to check exactly which numbers relate
0:14:46 > 0:14:48to those handsets.
0:14:48 > 0:14:49The results of the test could show
0:14:49 > 0:14:52whether the mobile numbers match those of the drivers involved.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59One of the suspects is led out from the property and is taken
0:14:59 > 0:15:01to a local police station for questioning.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Meanwhile, there's good news from the other location.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10The other team, they've also had success.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14They have arrested their man, the van driver, as well.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17During their search, they got his phone, which will be of similar
0:15:17 > 0:15:21interest as it will be to this search and seizure here.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24So, all in all, we've got everybody that we came out to find.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27We've got all the evidence that we came to seek.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30We've also dismantled this cannabis cultivation as well.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Most insurance crime is opportunistic,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44but some frauds are really grave - fake deaths, for example.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Life insurance fraud can potentially net several million pounds,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51which makes it very attractive to criminals.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Fortunately, this man, John Saunders, has spent a lifetime
0:15:54 > 0:15:57investigating fake deaths and knows how to spot one immediately.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02His 25 years of experience came in handy when, in 2002,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07he was asked to investigate the UK's most famous case of a missing person.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11'John Darwin went missing after setting out on a canoeing trip.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13'No trace of him was ever found.'
0:16:13 > 0:16:16At the time, the story gripped the nation
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and five years later, it made the headlines again,
0:16:18 > 0:16:22when John Darwin sensationally returned from the dead.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25'This is where John Darwin reappeared yesterday,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28'400 miles away in London.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30'He has told police he doesn't remember anything about what
0:16:30 > 0:16:32'happened, so for now, at least,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36'his dramatic disappearance remains a mystery.'
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Except there was no mystery.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42John Darwin's disappearance was a simple case of life insurance fraud
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and John Saunders had been on to him for some time.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48I investigated at the time, and interviewed his wife,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52and put forward that this, in our opinion, wasn't a legitimate claim.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56When Darwin actually gave himself up,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00we actually were aware, at that time, that he was in Panama and were
0:17:00 > 0:17:05contemplating actually going to Panama and getting the money back.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07John employs Mike, a former police officer,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10to work on investigations with him.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14I have grave concerns about what the husband has told me.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18With their expertise, Linden Claims is the go-to company for insurers
0:17:18 > 0:17:23wishing to investigate life insurance claims featuring deaths abroad.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26John knows the incredible lengths people will go to
0:17:26 > 0:17:28to cash-in from beyond the grave.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30He banged on the door for ages,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and eventually this voice shouted out, "Go away, I'm dead."
0:17:33 > 0:17:36And I can remember a case in West Africa of Edward,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38who was allegedly dead and I found his car
0:17:38 > 0:17:41and people said, "He was in that house there,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43"he'll be out in a moment," and he came out. I said,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46"Hello, Edward, how are you?" And he said, "I'm dead." I said,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48"You're what?" "I'm dead. Sorry, I'm not dead.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51"My brother is dead, I'm alive." And he then ran away.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58In Mike's experience, there's no typical life insurance fraudster.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00I don't believe that this is purely a white-collar crime
0:18:00 > 0:18:06in my experience. This reaches across the social spectrum.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10I've had instances of people in poverty making applications,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13teachers making applications, and indeed businessmen.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17But there is one thing all the fraudulent claimants have in common.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Money, they say, is the root of all evil.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21And it certainly opened my eyes to it,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24since I have been working for John.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26In terms of that it is greed that actually pushes
0:18:26 > 0:18:29the people into making these claims.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33They see it as a way of setting themselves up, I'm sure, for life.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36It's not surprising that, with his line of work,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40John takes a dim view of those who submit phony life insurance claims.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45Death comes to us all, eventually, and to try and fake death,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48to me, seems morally wrong.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Recently, John was asked to look at the case of a woman called
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Shamshad Billa who had taken out three life insurance policies
0:18:55 > 0:18:57worth a total of £2 million.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02Shortly after, Ms Billa had travelled to Pakistan on holiday.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05After just a week, she had died, apparently of dehydration.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08With three policies, £2 million of cover
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and a suspicious death, John was called in.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16The case came to us to, basically, to make a few background enquiries,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20to interview the claimant and ascertain all the facts,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24with a view to determining whether the claim was genuine or not.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The beneficiary of the policies was Mohammed Ali Butt,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29Shamshad Billa's fiance.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33If the claim was genuine, he stood to gain a cool £2 million.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36The relationship between the deceased woman
0:19:36 > 0:19:39and her fiance was the key to the case.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41And that's where John focused his attention.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43The deceased lady, Shamshad Billa,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46was said to be a partner in an off-licence
0:19:46 > 0:19:53and she wanted to leave the policy in trust for her fiance,
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Mohammed Ali Butt, who was her partner in the off-licence,
0:19:57 > 0:20:02but he apparently wasn't to know and it did seem a bit strange.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05John decided to take a closer look at the off-licence
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and ran a check to see who officially owned it.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12It was in the name of Shamshad Billa and Mohammed Ali Butt
0:20:12 > 0:20:16and I traced their address to actually...in Ilford
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and, according to the neighbours there, they had moved
0:20:20 > 0:20:23and Mohammed Ali Butt had an off-licence with his wife,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25who was called Rozeena Butt.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28It didn't add up. John's investigation had revealed
0:20:28 > 0:20:31that the beneficiary was married to someone else.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Mohammed Ali Butt was due to receive £2 million
0:20:34 > 0:20:38from Shamshad Billa, who had died in Pakistan,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42but he was married to Rozeena Butt, who was very much alive.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45John then turned to the wife, Rozeena Butt.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48He soon made a discovery that potentially left the claim
0:20:48 > 0:20:49dead in the water.
0:20:50 > 0:20:56Mohammed Ali Butt's wife Rozeena also used the name Shamshad Billa
0:20:56 > 0:20:58and worked at the off-licence with him.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00It was too much of a coincidence.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03John was convinced that Mrs Butt and Ms Billa
0:21:03 > 0:21:05were one and the same person.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08But it was vital to back up his suspicions with hard facts.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10I managed to get the original birth certificate,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and was able to establish that she was born Shamshad Billa
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and her name was changed to Rozeena Billa when she was a young child,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21later became Butt when she married Mr Butt.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24The Butts had used Rozeena's old identity to take out
0:21:24 > 0:21:26multiple life insurance policies.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30They had then claimed that Shamshad Billa had died in Pakistan
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and had attempted to fraudulently claim a massive pay-out.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36So she's not dead, she was living in Hornchurch
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and still running the off-licence under the name Rozeena Butt,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42but she was also Shamshad Billa.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46By this stage, John had enough evidence of suspected criminal
0:21:46 > 0:21:49activity to report back to the three insurance companies,
0:21:49 > 0:21:50who then contacted the authorities.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55DCI Manley of the City of London Police worked on the case.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59In his eyes, the two identities were pivotal to the fraud.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02At the time, Shamshad had two passports -
0:22:02 > 0:22:06one in her old identity that was legal and one in her new identity.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10The second passport came into play after Shamshad Billa
0:22:10 > 0:22:11had supposedly died.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14She has got to get back from Pakistan and she has used her new
0:22:14 > 0:22:16identity and her new passport to
0:22:16 > 0:22:19travel back to the UK, showing a high degree of planning
0:22:19 > 0:22:22in - how is she going to get out there? How is she going to get back?
0:22:22 > 0:22:24With so much evidence,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27the police moved in to arrest the main suspects,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Mohammed Ali Butt and Rozeena Butt,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32but even then, there was a surprise in store.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35When we executed warrants, the wife Rozeena was upstairs
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and the door was answered by a man in police uniform.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43And between committing the fraud and working in the off-licence
0:22:43 > 0:22:47he had applied for and was joining the police force
0:22:47 > 0:22:49and was in police uniform on his way to work,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53maybe not realising the implications of what had happened
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and what fraud had been committed.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00In an audacious move, Mohammed Ali Butt had actually joined the police,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03the very organisation that, unbeknownst to him,
0:23:03 > 0:23:04was about to bring him down.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08But before the case could progress, DCI Manley needed a motive.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13When we were investigating, we find that she has got quite a nice house,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17but she is in a lot of debt, she's struggling to pay the mortgage.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20While she had a nice lifestyle, she was struggling to maintain it.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24So, it looks to me as though the motive is
0:23:24 > 0:23:26to maintain a lifestyle.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28By the time the case reached Southwark Crown Court,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32the evidence was compelling, especially the death certificate from Pakistan.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36We forensically examined it and you've got Mohammed Butt
0:23:36 > 0:23:40and Rozeena Butt, her fingerprints are on the document.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43So the lady whose death has been faked
0:23:43 > 0:23:46has got her fingerprints on the document.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Not an easy thing to do if you're dead.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52The butt of the joke was that they were now worse off than
0:23:52 > 0:23:54when they started.
0:23:54 > 0:23:55Muhammad Ali Butt and Rozeena Butt
0:23:55 > 0:24:00had tried to claim £2 million in life insurance, but failed
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and collectively were locked up for three years, seven months.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08I've got no sympathy for them at all.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12I think they underestimated how far the insurance company would
0:24:12 > 0:24:15take it and also I don't believe they ever thought
0:24:15 > 0:24:18the police force would take it up to investigate.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Instead of enjoying a life of luxury,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24the couple ended up living behind bars.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Hardly what you call seventh heaven.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29DCI Manley has some words of warning
0:24:29 > 0:24:30for anyone else thinking of doing the same.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34If you're planning to fake your own death, don't bother.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45With 5.1 billion bus passenger journeys taken every year,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49statistically there are going to be road accidents.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Lee Ingram of First Group knows this only too well.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57It's quite common that we get accidents at junctions.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00It's also quite common where one person gives one version
0:25:00 > 0:25:04of events, and someone else has got a completely different version.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06And that's just what happened in this case.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10This is a case involving a vehicle pulling out of a junction
0:25:10 > 0:25:12in front of an oncoming bus.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16The van driver is saying that he's pulled out from the junction,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20got virtually all the way across and had to stop because of traffic.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24He stopped, he's alleging our bus is speeding and has not been able
0:25:24 > 0:25:27to stop in time which he should have done and hit him in the rear.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Lee talked to the bus driver to get his side of the story.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Our bus driver is simply saying that the vehicle has
0:25:35 > 0:25:37pulled out as soon as it's upon him,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39and left him no chance to avoid hitting him.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42This immediately called the van driver's claim into question.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47Lee's suspicions were also aroused by the sheer size of the claim.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52The gentleman was claiming for whiplash injuries to himself
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and also injuries to three passengers in the vehicle as well.
0:25:56 > 0:25:57So we are looking at a claim
0:25:57 > 0:26:00round about the £20,000 mark including legal costs.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03A huge amount of money was at stake,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05but luckily First Group buses
0:26:05 > 0:26:07are fitted with state-of-the-art technology,
0:26:07 > 0:26:08which monitors everything.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Our buses are effectively data-gathering machines.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16We've got CCTV evidence, we've got telematics evidence.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19We know where a bus is at any time, what speed it's doing,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23and we're also taking images of everything around and on the bus.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Checking out the CCTV was a no-brainer.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30It would settle the question of what happened once and for all.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32From the version of events given by the other party,
0:26:32 > 0:26:37we were expecting him to casually pull out of the junction,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39get virtually all the way across and then have to come
0:26:39 > 0:26:42to a slow stop, and then the bus coming along shortly after,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and then hitting his stationary vehicle. When we've
0:26:45 > 0:26:49actually looked at the footage, this is not what's occurred.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52He's pulled out quite quickly from the junction,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54across the bus who is almost upon him,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and just got past the front off-side of the bus
0:26:57 > 0:26:59when it's collided with the rear of his van.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03This goes completely against what
0:27:03 > 0:27:05the claimant was actually saying had happened.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08The CCTV proved the claimant hadn't been telling
0:27:08 > 0:27:10the truth about the accident.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13I don't think this gentleman is actually trying to pull
0:27:13 > 0:27:16out in front of an oncoming bus, I think what he has done is
0:27:16 > 0:27:19he has misread the distance between himself and the bus.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23He's gone for it, to all intents and purposes, and just tried to get
0:27:23 > 0:27:26across the road before the bus got there and failed spectacularly.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Why take the chance? Buses weigh 15 tonnes.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33If they hit you, you're going to know about it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Not only did the claimant cause an accident by dangerous driving,
0:27:36 > 0:27:41he tried to blame someone else and sting them for a pay-out.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44He's then decided, "Well, I'm going to try and make a claim.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47"I'll put in a version of circumstances which I think is
0:27:47 > 0:27:49"correct, and we'll go for it and see how much we can get out of it."
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Needless to say, the claim was rejected,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55all thanks to the on-board technology.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58For anyone who is thinking of trying to put in a fraudulent claim
0:27:58 > 0:28:01or an exaggerated claim, as soon as that comes in to us,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04you're likely to receive a copy of the CCTV footage proving
0:28:04 > 0:28:06otherwise. So, yeah,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09if you're thinking about making something up, I wouldn't bother.