A former investment banker has been sentenced following a fraudulent cancer claim on a life insurance critical illness policy and an investment scam, totalling near £2 million.
Rajesh Ghedia, 42, was sentenced to six month and nine years in prison at Southwark Crown Court on 17 June and will now be subject to confiscation proceedings.
Having taken out a life insurance policy, that included critical illness cover valued at £1.2m should he be diagnosed with a terminal illness, in March 2017, Ghedia also signed up to a number of pension schemes that would provide access funds in the event he be given less than 12 months to live.
In October 2022, Ghedia made contact with one of the pension plan providers stating that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had less than 12 months left to live.
The provider then received documentation purportedly from a private clinic doctor - listed on the General Medical Council register - confirming the diagnosis, who also noted that the cancer had "spread aggressively."
As a result, the provider released two payments to Ghedia totalling £14,581.32.
Three months later, Ghedia made contact with the insurance provider to make a claim on his policy, however a review of the supplied medical records caused concern - with reports dating the diagnosis at July 2019, while Ghedia claimed it happened in June 2020.
Following the doctor listed in the report confirming the diagnosis and supplying documents showing Ghedia was receiving treatment for cancer, the provider paid out £1,201,096.97 in May 2021.
Investigations
Concerns over Ghedia's mortgage payments led the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) to open an investigation in June 2021.
Contact with the doctor listed on the supplied medical records revealed that the doctor had never treated Ghedia, no-one by that name had ever been a patient at the clinic and that the email addresses and signatures on documents provided by Ghedia were fake.
A search of his home Ghedia's home uncovered a "wealth of evidence" pointing to further fraudulent claims, including withdrawals from five other pensions plans, totalling £69,335.36, due to a fake illness.
Enquiries also found that Ghedia had submitted applications for two further life insurance policies in June and July 2021. In both applications, Ghedia provided reports stating he was not undergoing any medical treatment, nor had he been diagnosed with any illnesses.
Detective Constable Daniel Weller, at the City of London Police IFED, commented: "It is both disturbing and despicable that Ghedia exploited systems which are set up to help those who are terminally ill - not to line the pockets of greedy fraudsters.
"Ghedia shows no sign of having a moral compass. Hopefully some time behind bars will give him the opportunity to find one."
In addition, Gheida was also involved in an investment scam, using his employment with an investment bank to convince friends, family and acquaintances in fake financial products by posing as the banks' head of trading - resulting in one victim being forced to sell his home to cover the loss.
Detective Constable Simon Andrews, from Fraud Operations at the City of London Police, said:"Investment fraudsters often hide behind social media profiles or target complete strangers.
"Ghedia was far more brazen than this, presenting himself in person to acquaintances as a senior trader at one of the world's biggest investments banks. Personal relationships were also not a boundary for Ghedia's crimes, as he even went to the extreme of deceiving his own relative for financial gain."
