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From: For the Victims on 1 Apr 2010 13:52
A civil servant at the heart of a “cash for crash” scam which is
costing motorists an extra £50 annually on their insurance policies
was jailed in Manchester today for four and a half years.

Mohammed Patel, who worked at the Department of Work and Pensions,
would stage bogus road traffic accidents by braking suddenly at
junctions or roundabouts to force drivers to crash into him.

The 25-year-old was involved in at least 93 forced collisions, earning
£500 a time, and allowing a wider network of accomplices, mostly Asian
men in Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester, to mount inflated
insurance claims worth an average £17,000.

Patel, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, made around £46,000 for his role
in the fraud which netted £1.6 million. Altogether this type of fraud
is costing the motor insurance industry £350 million each year - the
equivalent of £49 on every motor insurance premium.

After the hearing Richard Davies, AXA UK risk manager, speaking on
behalf of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, said that they have made 28
separate investigations across Britain into alleged “cash for crash”
frauds. They involve thousands of bogus accidents.

He said: “From the driving public’s point of view we have started 28
separate operations right the way across the UK looking into this type
of scam. It is the reason why we spent £10 million setting up the
bureau.

“We view it as a threat not only in terms of premiums but as a threat
to public safety. There is a significant impact on individual
motorists involved in these collisions. That is not a position that
should be allowed to continue.”

There were extraordinary scenes in the small court where there were so
many defendants awaiting sentence that they had to use the public
gallery as an overspill dock.

Judge Bernard Lever was sentencing 24 other people for their roles in
the scam.

William Baker, for the prosecution, said that staff in offices
overlooking the Eden roundabout on the A34 near Cheadle noticed that
the same driver was involved in a similar sort of accident on a number
of occasions. They became suspicious and alerted police.

On November 11, 2005 Patel was driving a Toyota Yaris which stopped
suddenly on the roundabout for no apparent reason forcing a man
driving to work in a van to crash into him.

Mr Baker said that the fraud rests on the understanding that motorists
who hit the back of another vehicle are at fault. The van driver thus
appeared to be the one to blame and an insurance claim was
subsequently submitted.

The Yaris belonged to a man called Abdul Ghafoor, 58, who lives in
Bury, Greater Manchester. He claimed to be driving at the time and
stated that a friend, Farid Rabbani, 32, was sitting alongside him.

Both men went on to file claims for personal injury, the cost of
courtesy cars as well as the cost of repairing the vehicle.

An hour later Patel was behind the wheel of a Mercedes CLK, belonging
to another man, Shahid Latif, 32, at the same spot. When he slammed on
the brakes a lorry driver fell victim to the same scam.

There was no visible damage to the Mercedes which was driven from the
scene. However, ten days later there was apparently extensive damage
to the rear when it was inspected by an insurance engineer.

Workers in the office block told the lorry driver what had happened an
hour earlier and he, in turn, alerted his employer’s insurers.

Mr Baker told the court how Patel, who lived with his South African
girlfriend, Ettorina Hay, 29, spent his money on a Mercedes sports
car, a Lincoln Navigator 4x4, a 60-inch television, designer clothes
and luxury holidays.

He said: “When police searched the house in Bolton they found it was
decorated with expensive furniture and electrical equipment. It could
truly be said to be an Aladdin’s Cave.”

Patel, who had a long record of motoring offences, admitted one count
of conspiracy to defraud, six counts of dangerous driving and four
counts of driving while disqualified.

He was said by his counsel “somewhat extraordinarily” to have held
down a responsible job working for the Department of Work and Pensions
and to have started his involvement in the scam when he wrecked a
friend’s Subaru Imprezza car.

Judge Bernard Lever retorted: “He didn’t have to go on and make a
production line of it. Did he?” The judge lectured Patel that this was
not a victimless crime because fraud costs the industry £1.9 billion
each year.

He also cited the cases of two female victims who suffered
psychological trauma. One pensioner was so shocked by the incident she
was bed-ridden for a month and now worries about driving across a
roundabout on the way to the shops. She had been shocked to receive
the solicitor’s demands for compensation.

Jailing him and disqualifying him from driving for three and a half
years, he said: “The decent motorists of this country are disgusted by
this conduct and are sick and tired of having to pay for it.”

The judge adjourned sentencing Mrs Hay, who admits money laundering
charges, until December 18 because he wanted to know who was going to
care for her eight-year-old son. He warned her that all sentencing
options remained open.

The main players in the scam also face proceedings under the Proceeds
of Crime Act.

Sergeant Mark Beales, of Greater Manchester Police’s special
operations branch, said: “Patel was prepared to put lives in danger to
make money. This abuse of the insurance claims system has implications
for all law-abiding road users.”

http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?s=abf610684c8e1cc4179b8cf31da18221&t=102432
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