A North London man has been sentenced at the Old Bailey to seven years in prison after attempting to defraud insurers of almost £1.7 million.
Ugandan - John Katege, 32, of Scales Road, Tottenham, claimed his friend - Rose Ndadye had died in a car accident in Uganda - but all the records were found to be false and to date, she cannot be traced.
A woman who was either Rose Ndadye or a woman posing as her, took out three separate life insurance policies in April 2011, with Aviva, Liverpool Victoria and Legal & General for a total value of £1.7 million. John Katege was the sole beneficiary of all the insurance policies.
John Katege
John Katege
In July 2011, the woman wrote to the insurance companies to check her cover would be valid if she travelled to Uganda in September, and to ensure that the different policies did not invalidate each other. It was confirmed that this would not affect her cover.
On September 18 2011, Katege wrote to insurers to inform them that Ndadye was killed in a road traffic accident in Uganda. He submitted various documents as proof, including witness statements from people who had been present at her funeral, a police report and a post-mortem. A private investigator hired by the insurance companies found that these were false. There was no traffic accident at the time claimed, Ndadye had never been a patient at the hospital the post-mortem was alleged to have taken place at, and the post mortem was a complete forgery.
City of London Police investigations in Uganda confirmed this, and interviewed witnesses who pointed to substantial evidence to show that Ndadye had not died in the way that was suggested. No trace of her alive or dead has been found in the UK or Uganda.
Katege denied faking the documents, claiming that the discrepancies were a result of Ugandan incompetence. However, his story did not add up and he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years.
Speaking after the sentencing, Det Sgt Tom Hill said: “Many criminals think life insurance fraud will be an easy way to make money.
“The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department and insurance companies are wise to their methods and as this case shows, national borders are no object to pursuing criminals.
"His sentence should be a deterrent to those thinking of committing insurance fraud."
The Judge in his sentencing remarks praised the officer in the case for bringing such a complex case to court.
Commenting on the case, Mark Allen, Manager, Fraud and Financial Crime, Association of British Insurers, said: "This case reinforces the strong message that insurance fraud is a serious crime that can lead to a prison sentence. Faked death claims may not be as common as other types of insurance frauds, but when they occur the sums of money involved can be considerable.
"Whatever the type of insurance fraud, insurers will continue to crackdown on the cheats, who not only risk a custodial sentence, but will face problems in getting further cover and obtaining other financial products such as a mortgage."
Some examples of failed faked death claims include:
- A husband faked his death in India so that his wife in the UK could collect £1.1m from life policies on his life. However, the death certificate was forged and the crematorium where he was said to have been cremated did not exist. He had flown back to the UK under an assumed name and was arrested shortly afterwards. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
- 'Canoe man’ John Darwin, who faked his own death by setting of at sea in a canoe, was arrested when he and his wife resurfaced in Panama. He stood to net over £500,000 in life insurance pay-outs.
- A man faked his own death, his wife claiming he had suffered a fatal heart attack while travelling in South America. It was subsequently discovered that he was alive and living in Australia. He was extradited to the UK where he was jailed.