University friends from Newham were given almost 57 months of suspended sentences for an insurance scam against minicab drivers.

Ajay Haque, 35, from Salisbury Road in Forest Gate, Anik Dixit, 34, from Browning Road in East Ham, and Mohammed Nur Ahmed, 33, from Walton Road in Manor Park, met while studying at Westminster University.

After they’d left, they created a ghost-broking scheme where they made money by selling fake insurance policies, mainly targeted at minicab drivers.

They were sentenced on August 7 for conspiracy to commit fraud. Ahmed pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing, while Dixit and Haque pleaded not guilty.

Between June 2012 and August 2013, the men ran AHD Solutions, a scam company which offered hire and reward insurance policies (a policy which allows you to carry goods or passengers for money), and added drivers onto trade policies. This meant the drivers wouldn’t flag up as uninsured to the police, even though they were.

To make the company seem legitimate, they issued fake policy documents, set up a website, and employed a work experience intern with no knowledge of the scam.

They used insurer Esure’s name on their website to try and appear authentic, but when Esure found out, they took legal action. They set up Kab Insure instead, continuing the scam based out of a new address in Leicester.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) found 65 vehicles with invalid policies linked to the scam.

Haque was given a two year custodial sentence, suspended for 21 months and a nine hour curfew lasting for six months.

Dixit received a 20 month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, and 260 hours unpaid work.

Ahmed received a 17 month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, and 220 hours unpaid work.

Jason Potter, head of investigations at the IFB, said: “This is a complex case that demonstrates just how far ghost brokers will go to in order to manipulate the system and make money through deception. The victims of this case were trying to make an honest, law-abiding living and these criminals did not hesitate to take advantage of that.

“This sentencing should serve as a stark warning to anyone that may consider orchestrating an insurance fraud scam. Ghost broking is an issue that we take extremely seriously.”