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Brian Sims
Editor |
Birmingham fast food restaurant owner convicted of fire-related fraud
24 June 2024
AN INSURANCE policy holder who presented a claim for fire damage to his business has been convicted of fraud after pleading guilty to giving insurers a false statement about his involvement in the blaze.

Following a fire at the fast food restaurant located on Alcester Road South in Kings Heath, Birmingham on 1 April 2018, the business owner and policy holder, namely Mohammad Suleyman (now aged 34) who lived in Handsworth, Birmingham at the time of the incident, and his brother Mohammed Yusuf (now aged 33) who lived in Hockley, Birmingham, both pleaded guilty to fraud and arson respectively after appearing at Birmingham Crown Court on 19 March.
Sentencing took place on 2 April whereupon Suleyman was sentenced to three years and seven months imprisonment for fraud by giving a false statement. Yusuf, who pleaded guilty to arson, was sentenced to four years and six months.
Following Suleyman’s claim submission, which was estimated at £280,000 in late September 2018, concerns were raised over the validity of the claim and the cause of the fire, as both Suleyman and Yusuf had visited hospital with burn injuries to Yusuf on the date of the fire, at which time they were arrested by officers from the West Midlands Police.
Insurer Allianz was also managing the landlord’s claim. A forensics report had been requested surrounding the cause of the fire. After reviewing the forensic report, which stated that the fire was ‘almost certainly started by perpetrators who broke in’, further investigations into the events that took place were instigated by Sedgwick, one of Allianz’s appointed claims management and loss adjusting companies.
Continued liaison
What followed to bring the case to court was a continued liaison between Sedgwick and the West Midlands Police. Suleyman’s witness statement regarding the events leading up to the fire included being held at gunpoint, with Sedgwick being advised Yusuf sustained the burn injuries from working on a vehicle.
Both Sedgwick and the West Midlands Police believed that Suleyman’s version of events and motives were of concern. With enough evidence in hand, charges were brought against both Suleyman and Yusuf, which eventually resulted in their prison sentences.
James Burge, head of counter fraud at Allianz Commercial, commented: “This is a fantastic result for us. The collaboration between Sedgwick, the West Midlands Police and ourselves brought Suleyman to justice. This case highlights the lengths that dishonest claimants will go to, so too the hard work that we continue to do to bring them to account.”
Ian Carman, director and head of forensic and investigation services at Sedgwick, added: “This case shows that there really is no hiding place for insurance fraudsters. The combined investigative efforts of Allianz, our commercial investigations team and the West Midlands Police evidence how seriously insurers take their duty to tackle the dishonest minority. I’m pleased that our deployment of highly specialised investigative resource was able to produce such a positive result for the industry and its honest customers.”
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