Fraudster invented fake wife and children in health insurance scam

Harwinder Sangha, 47, of De La Warr Road, Bexhill, admitted six counts of fraud by false representation.

He was sentenced at Hastings Crown Court to seven weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, on Friday.

He must also complete drugs rehabilitation and pay compensation of £2,764, plus court costs and victim surcharges.

Fraud detectives initially became aware of Sangha’s fraudulent activity after a referral from Simply Health Insurance.

An internal investigation found that between July 2016 and November 2016, Sangha had taken out five health insurance policies using fake details and made numerous claims for dental and optical treatments.

As well as using fake details to take out the policies, Sangha also used fictitious details to add a wife and children to the policies.

He did this in order to make fraudulent claims on behalf of them and ultimately increase the value of the claims.

Only a few days or weeks after taking out each of the policies, Sangha would make a fraudulent claim for a mix of optical and dental purchases on behalf of himself and his fictitious family.

To back up his claims, Sangha created fraudulent compliment slips and receipts and sent these to the insurer as proof of purchase.

He was arrested in November 2017 and police searched his address.

Bank statements revealed that his accounts had been used to buy some of the policies.

In total, Sangha was paid out in three of the claims, amounting to £2,764, while the other three were rejected.

City of London Police’s Detective Constable Jamie Kirk, who led the investigation, said: “Sangha not only used fake details to make false health claims for himself, he also created fictitious family members to maximise the amount he could attempt to steal.

“With support from Simply Health Insurance, the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department managed to uncover the true extent of Sangha’s false claims, and he’s now been punished for his fraudulent activity.”