Watford man in court over fake pothole insurance claim

Anaib Mohammad, of Trinity Hall Close, appeared at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on April 10 accused of submitting two false insurance claims to Hertfordshire County Council in 2020.

Mohammad had requested £650 for damage done to his vehicle after he reportedly hit a pothole, which left him with back and neck injuries.

When questioned by Hertfordshire's Shared Anti-Fraud Service officers, the 53-year-old claimed not to know anything of the application.

He suggested it could have been a drug dealer or neighbour who submitted it in his name, and said he had sold the car beforehand in January of that year.

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A fraud investigation revealed that the invoice for the damage repairs was fake and the company where the invoice allegedly originated stated they had not done any work on the vehicle.

Officers also discovered that Mohammad had actually been insured on the car until he sold it in August 2020, despite his earlier claims.

The Watford man pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and was handed a 16 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months.

The Watford man claimed not to know anything about the insurance claims when questioned by fraud officers.

He was ordered to pay £8,512 in costs to the council and £50 for breaching a suspended sentence he was given for a different offence.

Nick Jennings, head of the county council's Shared Anti-Fraud Service, said: “Mr Mohammad falsely represented himself to the council in order to make a gain from the public purse. 

“Thanks to help from the public, local businesses and our own investigative work we have been able to ensure that taxpayers money was safeguarded and Mr Mohammad was brought to justice.

“We take all attempts to defraud the council extremely seriously and will continue to use every tool available to detect and stop the abuse of taxpayers money.”