Syed Bukhari (pictured) has been sentenced to five years and seven months in jail after attempting to fake his own death in hopes of claiming insurance money.
Convicted at Inner London Crown Court, the 39-year-old pretended to be his partner both via email and on the phone, telling his insurance company that he had died from a heart attack in Pakistan. The life insurance claim was worth nearly £1 million.
Bukhari’s bogus claim also involved fake documents including a medical certificate of cause of death and a death registration certificate.
“Not only did Bukhari try and fake his own death and steal hundreds of thousands of pounds from his insurer, he was also brazen enough to impersonate his partner in a bid to progress his claim,” noted acting Detective Sergeant Mike Monkton, who led the probe for the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).
“If he’d been successful, he would’ve benefited up to the sum of £999,999, but thanks to the initial enquiries carried out by the insurer and their subsequent referral to IFED, we were able to uncover the full extent of his fraudulent activity and bring him to justice.”
IFED did not name the fraudster’s insurer.
Meanwhile Bukhari, who pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation, is currently serving seven years and 11 months in prison for unrelated fraud offences. His new sentence will run consecutively to the existing one.
