Extended sentence for fraudster who gave judge bogus employment reference

A fraudster, who is currently serving time in prison for orchestrating false medical claims against his employer, has been jailed for an extra eight months after he attempted to reduce his original sentence by providing a fake employee reference to the judge.

• He was originally jailed for orchestrating false medical claims against his employer
• He tried to reduce his sentence by giving the judge a fake employee reference

A fraudster, who is currently serving time in prison for orchestrating false medical claims against his employer, has been jailed for an extra eight months after he attempted to reduce his original sentence by providing a fake employee reference to the judge.

On Thursday 13 February 2020, Kasim Mughal, 36, of Park Road, Yeadon, Leeds, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to eight months in prison, to run consecutively to the two years and six month sentence he is already serving. He pleaded guilty to one count of perverting the course of justice.

Detective Sergeant Matt Hussey, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said:

“Mughal’s deceitfulness knows no bounds, and he also showed his stupidity in thinking he could trick the judge with a fake employee reference.

“For the second time, we’ve seen through Mughal’s lies and brought him to justice for his fraudulent actions.”

Mughal was initially convicted in August 2018, after he pleaded guilty to organising a series of fake medical claims for him and five colleagues against their company’s medical benefits package.

To substantiate these claims, Mughal provided the insurance company with fraudulent invoices from health practices. Mughal also introduced a number of his co-workers to his criminal activity, and in some instances, he gave them the fake invoices he used to help back up their claims. In return, Mughal would receive 50% of the insurance pay-out.

As part of Mughal’s mitigation during his sentencing, he provided the judge with an employee reference from a previous manager at a distribution plant where he used to work. In the reference, it described the good work Mughal had carried out and stated that he was an integral part of the team.

However, enquiries made by IFED officers at the distribution plant revealed that the reference was fraudulent, including spelling mistakes and incorrect details of the job roles Mughal held at the company.

Additionally, IFED contacted the manager who is alleged to have provided the reference, and he confirmed he had no knowledge of it. He, and several other colleagues IFED spoke to, also stated that it was the first time they knew Mughal was at court and had been sent to prison. As far as they were aware, Mughal had not been at work because he was off sick with an injury following a road traffic collision.

When IFED questioned Mughal about the employment reference, he denied it was fake and said his previous manager and work colleagues were all lying.