Conclusively, it is both disturbing and alarming that Ghedia exploited systems that are intended to help those who are terminally ill – not to fill the pockets of greedy scammers. Follow precautions and stay safe; after all, it’s a horrible world we all live in!
Can you believe that we live in a world where people pretend to have cancer just to get rich?
Yes, it’s true; as part of over £2 million worth of scams, a scammer pretended to have terminal cancer; he even scammed his relatives out of money. How devastating!
Through his fake stories and forged medical reports, the Berkshire banker, Rajesh Ghedia, 42, emptied many bank accounts. Along with scamming insurance companies out of £1.2 million, he also pretended to be the vice president of the Bank Of America and scammed seven victims, including his own cousin and a dad he met on the school run out of £600,000. Unbelievable!
Has this caught your attention yet? Continue reading for more details!
How 1.8 Million Scam Was Conducted
It all started back in 2016 but came to light when one of his victims contacted the bank and told him their investment was missing.
Although this led to Ghedia being interviewed by police in August 2020, he continued to pretend he had terminal pancreatic cancer that would kill him within a year to make money from his pension and claim on his life insurance. According to reports, the scammer lived a lavish lifestyle that involved driving expensive cars, living in a mansion, and privately educating his children in the exclusive Virginia Water neighborhood in Surrey.
Ghedia’s series of scams saw him make fraudulent claims about his position at Bank of America to convince seven people, including his cousin, to invest in fictitious financial instruments with the company and Goldman Sachs from 2016 to 2020.
Basically, Ghedia caused victims to lose a total of £600,000 after being told they could double or triple their money over a short period of time. The lawyer, Mr. Talbot, told the court that among the victims was a relative whom Ghedia had pushed to invest in a fictitious Goldman Sachs portfolio. Instead, more than £63,000 was sent into three of the defendant’s bank accounts. His former taxi driver and his wife were also victims, losing a total of slightly about £104,000.
Apart from this, the insurance scam is the subject of ten offenses, including four counts of producing an article for use in fraud and six counts of fraud. False medical records and letters from Dr. Nick Maisey, a consultant oncologist at the London Clinic, a private hospital in the heart of London, were fabricated by Ghedia.
Moreover, to avoid talking to the victims, Ghedia occasionally fabricated dreadful statements, such as saying his daughter had died in a car accident. A grandfather who was a victim of Ghedia’s deceit also spoke about his embarrassment.
Due to the continual period of offending spanning five years, Ghedia was judged highly guilty. The former banker owned high-value possessions and automobiles, educated his kids on his own dime and led a lavish lifestyle.
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A Taxi Driver Lost Is Home!
We have read that in one of his scams, Ghedia assured his victims they could quadruple or triple their money in a short amount of time, but instead they lost a total of £600,000.
He had worked at Bank of America in a support position and was not qualified to provide investment advice or possibilities. He pretended to be the bank’s head of trading to lure investors into making false investments.
Similarly, his former taxi driver and his wife were also victims, losing a total of slightly about £104,000. According to the testimony given in court, the couple took out loans and sold their house to pay the bills.
Basically, what happened was that Saeeda Ahmed, the wife of his taxi driver, lost more than £100,000, and the couple had to sell their home after borrowing £70,000 to pay bogus taxes that Ghedia, the scammer itself, invented. However, the good part is that the court heard when Mrs. Ahmed went to confront Ghedia about not receiving any payments.
But as read earlier, on some occasions, Ghedia made terrible assertions, falsely saying his daughter had been killed in a car accident, to avoid communicating with the victims. Here, he did the same and invented a car crash in the US that had left his daughter in the hospital. According to Mrs. Ahmed, when she went to see him again, he told her that his daughter had died. How disgusting!
Similarly, a grandfather who was a victim of Ghedia’s deceit spoke in a statement about his humiliation.
Nonetheless, the amounts victims lost were as follows; his cousin Vipul Chandgera was defrauded of £63,491, a dad met through his children’s school named Per Selbekk lost £116,664, and Wayne Johncock, the man he met at a neighborhood party, lost £181, 599. Damn!
Hence, it can be seen that before the fraud began, he knew every one of the victims, either through his children or his workers (the taxi driver)!
If you’re a victim of a similar scam please get in touch with us to that we can help you get your money back!
Rajesh Ghedia Arrested – Done & Dusted!
Finally, an early guilty plea was taken by the Maidenhead man who stole £1.8 million through a series of coordinated thefts, and he was afterward informed that his sentencing will take place on Friday morning (June 17).
During sentencing, Judge Deborah Taylor referred to Ghedia as a “persistent fraudster and liar.”
She declared: “This was a contrived, extensive, and complex fraud using the names and reputation of doctors without them knowing.” “You have caused (victims) devastation, showing utter disregard for their mental wellbeing and finances.,” she stated in reference to the investment fraud.
Conclusively, it is both disturbing and alarming that Ghedia exploited systems that are intended to help those who are terminally ill – not to fill the pockets of greedy scammers. Follow precautions and stay safe; after all, it’s a horrible world we all live in!
Sources
- Author: Kirstie McCrum – https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/maidenhead-banker-jailed-after-claiming-24255168
- Authro: Karen Roberts – https://www.nationalworld.com/news/crime/former-banker-cancer-jailed-fraud-scams-ps18m-3736005
- Author: Adela Whittingham – https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/maidenhead-banker-who-faked-cancer-24249658
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