M4 CRASH SCAM DRIVER JAILED
CITY MOTORIST CAUSED COLLISION AT SEVERN TOLLS
A DRIVER who cut into a busy lane of traffic queueing at the Severn Bridge tolls caused a crash – then tried to blame the other driver.
Mohamed Rahman, 27, tried to scam insurers by blaming the other driver and claimed the M4 collision had reignited a painful back injury.
Rahman, from Roath, Cardiff, was jailed at Cardiff Crown Court for fraud by false representation over the crash on June 1 last year.
CCTV footage shows Rahman driving his Toyota Corolla towards the toll booths before trying to cut into the inside lane where other traffic is queuing for an open booth.
By attempting to cut into the lane, Rahman damaged the front offside of a Volkswagen Golf.
Rahman and the victim got out of their cars and exchanged details while the victim also took photographs of the damage that Rahman had caused to his car.
Following the collision, Rahman claims to have spoken to a friend who suggested he could make some money by blaming the other driver and making a claim against the driver’s insurance company.
The next day Rahman contacted his insurer and claimed that he was driving in the correct lane towards the toll booth when the victim had damaged his car by trying to cut into the lane Rahman was in.
Rahman was then contacted by a claims management company to which he gave the same account.
He also contacted a solicitor to instruct them to make a personal injury claim on his behalf in which he said the victim had collided with him and as a result it had reignited a painful back injury.
Suspicions of Rahman’s false claim were raised by insurers AIG when it was contacted by Rahman’s insurance provider Zurich.
Zurich held the victim accountable for the accident but the victim provided a different account of the accident and AIG investigated the incident by obtaining CCTV footage.
The footage showed Rahman’s account of events to be wrong and the case was referred to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.
Rahman gave a violuntary interview under caution in Cardiff on October 5 and was shown the CCTV footage and asked to account for the claim he had made. He said at no point had he accused the victim of driving into him and his insurer and solicitor must have misheard him when he spoke to them on the phone.
Subsequently officers obtained telephone recordings in which Rahman can clearly be heard to say that the victim had driven into him and that he was not responsible for the collision.
Once the recordings had been obtained, officers re-interviewed Rahman on December 7 and he made full admissions to the false claim.
He was then arrested and charged with fraud by false representation and was convicted at Cardiff Crown Court on May 16. He was jailed for six months.
City of London Police Detective Constable Ian Cambridge, who led the investigation, said: “Rahman tried to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes in order to make a profit.
“This greed however has only led to him receiving a criminal record and a prison sentence.
“By working together with all of those involved, including the insurers, solicitors and the victim, we have now managed to ensure that he has been brought to justice.
“The result should act as a stark warning to those who may consider placing a false insurance claim.
“It simply is not a good idea and there will only be negative consequences as we have clearly seen in the case of Rahman.”