Afghan who faked death so British ex-wife could claim £300,000 insurance caught after his fingerprints were found on death certificate

An Afghan man forged his own death certificate so his British ex-wife could claim a £300,000 payout on their life insurance policy.

A court heard that Ahmad Akhtary, 34, got a fake death certificate from Afghanistan claiming he had died of 'brain trauma' after being involved in an accident in his home country.

His wife, Anne, a 43-year-old mother of triplets, then submitted a claim to Norwich Union for the £300,000 payable on their joint life policy if one of them died.

But it was not long before the 'unsophisticated' plot went wrong - because Akhtary continued to live openly in Gloucester, working, paying tax and keeping appointments with his GP.

Ahmad Akhtary's death plot was foiled

Anne Akhtary came clean early on



Prosecutor James Cranfield told Gloucester crown court that Norwich Union investigators were alerted to the scam when they heard Mr Akhtary had been to see his GP six months after his alleged death.

They confronted Mrs Akhtary about her claim - and she admitted the truth.

When her ex-husband was tracked down and arrested, however, he denied being involved or having any knowledge of the fake death certificate.

But he was caught out when his fingerprints were found on the Afghan document.

Factory worker Akhtary, 33, of Stratton Road, Gloucester, pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain £300,000 from Norwich Union by deception between August 25, 2005 and November 11, 2006.

His wife, 43, of Cotteswold Road, Gloucester, also admitted the attempted deception as well as a charge of forgery.

Judge Mark Horton sentenced them both to nine months jail suspended for two years.

Ahmad was also ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid community work and Anne 40 hours.

Mr Cranfield told the court the couple had met in May 2002 and married in September 2003.

In November 2003 they got a £110,000 mortgage to buy a house in Cotteswold Road, Gloucester, and in August 2005 they took out their joint life policy with Norwich Union.

Shortly after taking out the policy, which became active in October 2005, they began divorce proceedings, Mr Cranfield said. The divorce was finalised in November.

The couple were briefly reconciled and lived together again in December and January 2006 but Akhtary then moved out again.

Mr Cranfield said that in April 2006 Mrs Akhtary asked Norwich Union to send her a claim form.

'Information was provided that he had died in an accident in Afghanistan following some brain trauma,' he said.



'The insurers requested a death certificate. Mrs Akhtary duly provided it.

'It is an Afghanistan certificate. It gives cause of death as brain trauma following accident. This was submitted on the 9th October 2006 and gave the date of his death as March 2006.

'However, Norwich Union received a phone call a few weeks after the claim was received.

'They were told that Mr Akhtary's GP had seen him at his practice on 6th September 2006 and he had attended hospital on 28th September.

'So it was not the most sophisticated way of going about making a false claim.'

Mr Cranfield said that in November 2006, Mrs Akhtary gave a signed statement saying how she had become involved in submitting a fraudulent claim, where the fake death certificate came from and indicating she would be pleading guilty.

On the other hand, Mr Akhtary was arrested and interviewed in February 2007 and indicated he knew nothing about the scheme.

Mr Cranfield said Akhtary was of previous good character but his ex-wife had criminal convictions including one for making a false statement to get benefits.

Jonathan Stanniland, prosecuting, said it was an 'unsophisticated offence'.

'During the period he was supposed to be shamming his demise he was visiting his GP regularly in connection with his health, working, paying tax in his own name, living at an address at which he was registered and openly conducting his business and social affairs in Gloucester.

'Those were not the actions of a person who fully appreciates the serious nature of the offence in which they have become embroiled.'



Mr Stanniland said Akhtary feared for his family in Afghanistan if he was jailed - because his mother, who lives in 'desperate circumstances' relied on the £500 a month he sends her from his UK earnings.

Barrister Philip Warren acting for Mrs Akhtary said she had wanted to drop the deception plot when the first fake death certificate got lost in the post and did not arrive with Norwich Union.

However, Akhtary wanted to carry on so he got a second fake certificate for her to send, Mr Warren said.

'Norwich Union, it would appear, were not fooled for one minute and within a month the investigators visited Mrs Akhtary.

'She crumbled and was in tears and abandoned the enterprise then.'

Mr Warren said that the strain on Mrs Akhtary, as a single mother of 12 year old triplets, had been 'palpable' during the long wait for the case to come to court.

Passing sentence, Judge Mark Horton said all fake insurance claims were serious but the couple had been unsophisticated in the way they went about it and no money had in fact been lost.

'Your pursuit of this money was hesitant to say the least.' he said.

But he told the couple that although prison terms were merited he did not feel it necessary to make them immediate.



