Solicitor jailed over insurance crash claim scam
A DISHONEST Huddersfield solicitor has been jailed for his part in an insurance scam.
Former solicitor Kamar Abbas Khan, 34, was jailed for 15 months after he was found guilty of contempt of court over his involvement in presenting spurious medical documents in pursuit of a ‘crash for cash’ personal injury claim by a taxi driver.
Khan, who has links to both Huddersfield and Harrogate, was formerly a director of Birkby law firm Taylor Knight and Wolff (TKW) which was shut down by legal watchdogs in 2016.
He was found guilty of contempt alongside Surrey-based GP Dr Asef Zafar who wrote an initial medical report to say car crash victim Mudassar Iqbal had ‘fully recovered’ following the 2011 crash in High Wycombe - but then amended the report to say the injuries would last for up to eight months.
Dr Zafar, who received a six-month suspended prison sentence, changed the report at the request of Khan.
The deception came to light when a paralegal working for TKW accidentally sent the original medical report to the insurer dealing with the claim.
Mr Justice Garnham, sitting in the High Court of Justice, heard that solicitor Kamar Khan had forged the signature of the claimant on a witness statement.
When the case was exposed both Khan and Dr Zafar tried to cover their tracks by denying involvement.
Justice Garnham said of Khan: “I have no doubt your motivation was greed pure and simple.”
On Dr Zafar, the judge said: “You were motivated first by your desire to keep the report writing factory you had devised running at full capacity so as to continue making the astonishing profit you told me about and then by the cowardly desire to cover what you had done.”
The judge said the GP had been rattling out 32 medical reports every day, charging £70 each, earning him £350,000 a year on top of his NHS salary.
The convictions against the pair were secured after work by car insurer LV= and law firm Horwich Farrelly.
Martin Milliner, director of claims at LV=, said: “Whilst this case has taken a considerable amount of time, effort and cost, it has been worth it in order to send a stark warning to the ‘professional enablers’ of fraudulent claims. We place a lot of trust in our lawyers and doctors to act with integrity, which makes it even more shocking when they behave in such an unscrupulous way.
“LV= is always prepared to stand up to fraudsters to protect the premiums and the rights of our honest customers.”
Ronan McCann, of Horwich Farrelly, said: “A case of this nature is unprecedented.
“The public’s trust in both the medical and legal profession has been severely let down.
“It took a herculean effort to get behind issues such as legal privilege and confidentiality but we managed to unearth a fraud and tackle professionals who sought to assist in the bringing of a fraudulent claim, focusing on profit as opposed to their overriding duties to the public and court alike.
“This case has taken over five years to reach its conclusion and it would have been very easy for LV= to walk away on any number of occasions, but they insisted on fighting for the principles involved.”