A 24-year-old man has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after admitting his part in a £1.6m "crash for cash" conspiracy in Greater Manchester. Mohammed Patel deliberately caused at least 93 car crashes in three years, each costing insurers about £17,000.
Patel, of Nottingham Drive, Bolton, admitted a number of charges at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court. He charged £500 a time to stage accidents, which enabled car owners to claim for bogus damages from insurers.
Patel forced a number of low speed crashes by braking suddenly, often at roundabouts, so the driver behind would crash into the back of him. Claimants - who owned the cars Patel was driving - demanded compensation for personal injury, courtesy cars and legal fees at the expense of the other party's insurers.
As a result of the conspiracy he earned about £46,000. But the cost to the insurance industry was huge, the court heard. The court heard the scam was exposed by suspicious office workers who overlooked the Eden Point roundabout - favoured by Patel for his crashes - on the A34 at Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.
Mr Baker said staff had noticed "one vehicle colliding with another at low speed with minor damage, and often the same person driving the lead vehicle". "They told drivers of the rear vehicles they thought they were the victim of fraud," he added.
Patel pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud, six counts of dangerous driving and four counts of driving while disqualified between May 2005 and August 2008.
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