Insurance worker faked £1m of claims to fund his love of sports cars

An insurance worker has been jailed after stealing more than £1million from his employers to fund his lavish lifestyle and love of sports cars.

Tahir Mahmood Khan falsified more than 350 insurance claims while he worked as an accident claims negotiator at a leading firm, paying cheques into bogus bank accounts created by an accomplice.
The fraudster was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail after he was caught out by a colleague dealing with another claim.

Neighbours told of how top-of-the-range sports cars were parked on his drive and he was often seen driving in Italian sports cars and went on luxury holidays to Dubai.
A neighbour said: 'I have never really had any dealings with him though he's always been friendly. He was always polite.

'The fraud squad was up at his home last year and everything went, like the posh cars, and he was then going around in an old banger.'
When confronted by police, Khan gave a a false address where a man who refused to be named but confirmed he was Khan's younger brother, said: 'He is a nice bloke and he always helps his family out.'

Khan, who for the last five years has lived with his wife and children in Lancashire, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft to the value of £1,004,411.26 at Stoke Crown Court for the crimes committed between July 2002 and September 2006.
His accomplice Bilal Fazal, pleaded guilty to laundering £200,000 and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison at the same hearing.
A spokesman for The Co-operative Insurance, said: 'We welcome the custodial sentence given to Mr Khan.

'The successful prosecution follows extensive investigations between The Co-operative Insurance, Staffordshire Police Financial Crime Unit and the Asset Recovery Agency.
'We hope to recover most of the losses incurred and wish to make clear that none of our customers were affected by the incident.'
Nick Price, District Crown Prosecutor for CPS Staffordshire, said: 'Khan falsified injury claims by inventing a fictitious claimant and then requesting a company cheque as payment.
'He was only discovered when a colleague noticed a discrepancy on one of the files he was raising a cheque for.

'Khan and Fazal will be subject to further proceedings under the Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002 which allows the court to make an order against them to pay a sum equal to the benefit from their crime.'