By Gavin Mackintosh-
A banker who pretended to have terminal cancer and forged medical documents to scam insurance companies out of £1.2 million has been jailed.
Rajesh Ghedia, 42,(pictured) also pretended to be the vice president of the Bank of America , scamming seven victims in the process, including his own cousin, and a dad he met on the school run, out of £600,000.
The scams, dating back to 2016, came to light when one of his victims contacted the bank and was told their investment did not exist. Ghedia, who did work at the Bank of America but as Program Lead in the Global Technology and Operations department, was then interviewed by police in August 2020. Despite this he went on to fake having terminal pancreatic cancer that would kill him within a year to take money from his pension and claim on his life insurance.
The court heard he lived a “lavish lifestyle”, driving “high-value” cars and living in a mansion in the exclusive Virginia Water neighbourhood in Surrey, where he privately educated his children. Ghedia, of Maidenhead, in Berkshire, admitted 22 counts of fraud relating to fake investments and eight counts relating to the cancer scam.
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.
Further investigations revealed 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.”
Jailing him for six years and nine months, Judge Deborah Taylor said: “You preyed on those who became close to you. All said what devastation you caused them. You showed a total disregard of their life, health and reputation. All have been left scarred by the encounters with you and they thought you were their friend and helping them.”
Southwark Crown Court heard Ghedia convinced seven victims to invest just over £600,000 in products at the Bank of America and Goldman Sachs between 2016 and 2020. Jack Talbot, prosecuting, said the victims were told they could double or triple their money over a short period of time. Saeeda Ahmed, the wife of Ghedia’s regular taxi driver, lost over £100,000 and the couple had to sell their home after borrowing £70,000 to pay bogus taxes Ghedia invented to siphon more money from them.
The court heard that when Mrs Ahmed went to confront Ghedia over not receiving any payments, he fabricate d as tory about a car crash in the U.S that had left his daughter in hospital. When she came to see him again, he told her his daughter had died.
His fraudulent scheme was applied to his cousin Vipul Chandegra who was defrauded of £63,491. He also defrauded a dad he met through his children’s school, of £116,664, and Wayne Johncock, a man he met at a neighbourhood party, of £181,599.
The court heard Ghedia then defrauded Legal and General and his pension schemes between October 2020 and May last year. He also forged medical documents and letters diagnosing him with terminal cancer , claiming to be from Dr Nick Maisey, a consultant oncologist at a private hospital in central London.
Ghedia successfully claimed the money and then tried to take out a new life insurance policy with Aviva for over £900,000 claiming he was not receiving any treatment at all.
These frauds came to light when he stopped paying his mortgage and an investigator found he had “tripped up” and wrote a different date of diagnosis on one of his letters. Judge Taylor said: “You used the names and reputations of doctors who were totally unaware of your involvement in this and that their name was being used without regard to their professional standing or reputation.