Fraud investigators are probing a family’s claim of up to £1million of public aid after it emerged 15 relatives all claimed to live in the same single flat destroyed in the Grenfell Tower blaze.
Masi Naqshbandi, one of Britain’s most notorious ‘crash-for-cash’ insurance scammers, is one of the family members rehoused in new properties which include fully furnished, apartments in Kensington, west London.
The Naqshbandi family say they shared a three-bedroom flat on the third floor of Grenfell Tower before the June 14 fire.
Fifteen relatives of the Naqshbandi family say they shared a three-bedroom flat on the third floor of Grenfell Tower before the June 14 fire
However, only four names are believed to be on the original tenancy agreement.
Kensington and Chelsea Council officials became suspicious when some of the relatives started listing the third floor flat as their main residence after the tragedy.
One couple within the family registered Grenfell Tower as the address on their son’s birth certificate.
The council is offering to rehouse adults who can prove they lived in the tower block when it caught fire and pay for rent and utility bills until July 2019.
As they wait for a suitable home to be found they are put up in hotels and given a £300-a-week for necessities.
The Sunday Times revealed one Naqshbandi family member and his partner still appear on the electoral roll at an address in Harrow, several miles away.
Only four names are believed to be on the original tenancy agreement. Kensington and Chelsea Council officials became suspicious when some of the relatives started listing Grenfell as their main residence after the tragedy (pictured)
The family denies any wrongdoing, and officials accept some of the relatives have legitimately benefited from council assistance.
However, the surprisingly large number of claimants involved in the case has led Kensington and Chelsea council to begin a fraud investigation. It is understood that some of the evidence collected has been passed to police.
In 2012 Masi Naqshbandi was found guilty of staging hundreds of road traffic accidents in order to make insurance claims worth over £6.5m.
Msokeri is accused of claiming to have lived in the tower block in west London to scam charities, the Hilton Hotel chain, and the local council out of help meant for survivors
Between 2007 and 2008, Naqshbandi made more than 250 staged claims through his London-based company Real Accident Helpline.
In some instances vehicles were deliberately crashed or damaged to mimic a road traffic accident.
In other cases, accidents were entirely made-up by using false names and bogus paperwork.
Credit hire, personal injury and inflated damage costs meant each claim was worth tens of thousands of pounds.
The fraudster recruited people from the local community to donate their cars to be damaged and used in the claims process.