Factory fire shows dangerous face of insurance fraud

Posted: 30 January 2022

 

The fire occurred on 11 February 2018 in a room storing ink cartridges. Two companies located in the building, Fazteck and Chohan, which were managed by the same family, filed claims for losses totalling just over £2m. However, investigations established the cause of the damage as arson.

Haroon Bashir, a director at both Fazteck and Chohan, pleaded guilty to wilful fire raising and attempted fraud as his case was heard recently at the Dundee Sheriff Court.

Besides establishing naked flames had started the blaze, investigations found CCTV footage from the time of the fire showing Mr Bashir emerging from smoke coming out of the building. And a search of the Fazteck premises recovered policy documents where information on claims pay-outs had been highlighted.

Sentence has been deferred.

james burge
James Burge, head of counter fraud at Allianz Commercial, commented: “Thankfully no one was hurt in this case but I cannot stress enough how dangerous fire can be. We are also grateful that the investigations into this arson quickly established the facts, thanks to efficient collaboration between all involved, including loss adjusters and forensic engineers, to assist the police. We hope this case works as a deterrent for other would-be fraudsters.”


The information contained in this press release relates to Allianz Insurance plc. Allianz Insurance plc is one of the largest general insurers in the UK and part of the Allianz Group.

About Allianz Holdings plc

Allianz Holdings plc is the non-regulated holding company which owns the principal insurance operations of Allianz SE in Great Britain.

About Allianz

The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with more than 100 million* private and corporate customers in more than 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing 790 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage 1.7 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are amongst the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2021, over 150,000 employees achieved total revenues of 148.5 billion euros and an operating profit of 13.4 billion euros for the group.

These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided below. 

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Cecile Brisson, PR Consultant

Allianz Insurance

Email:  cecile.brisson@allianz.co.uk 

Mobile:  07385 406478 

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