Sixteen people sentenced for their part in a large-scale scam

In late 2012 a woman contacted Greater Manchester Police’s Road Crime Unit to report that her personal details had been falsely used to avoid speeding fines.

Police launched an investigation and discovered that the woman’s details had been used by fraudsters to avoid prosecution for speed camera offences.

As the investigation developed, and with support from the Insurance Fraud Bureau - the insurance industry’s central data hub to detect and disrupt organised fraud - another scam was uncovered facilitated by a firm known as Optimum Car Hire. The fraudsters had submitted false insurance claims associated with fictitious collisions and claims for hire charges for vehicles that were never actually hired. On eight occasions the same hire car was on hire to different people at the same time.

The scam was worth £225,000 and 35 false invoices were created to support the scam. On one occasion no hire car was actually provided but an invoice for £45,000 was submitted to the insurance company. One man allowed his details to be used fraudulently by the others over a hundred times, as part of the scam.

They were later arrested in connection with these scams and were sentenced on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 June 2015 at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square.

Police Constable Vaughan Sherrah-Davies said: "The speed cameras are there for a reason, to uphold the law and road safety. This is a reminder to those that chose to continually speed and then provide false information on the notices that arise after a speed camera has been activated so that they can continue to drive. Slow down, and do not provide false information to the police. The Jason Brown empire came crashing down all because he provided false information on two speed camera forms."

Ben Fletcher, Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, said: “Staged and contrived accidents alongside exaggerated claims with hugely inflated costs form part of the ‘crash for cash’ insurance fraud phenomenon which we estimate costs the honest policyholder almost £400 million each year. This sentencing serves as a warning to other would-be fraudsters that if you are committing fraud then the risk of being caught and prosecuted is very real. The consequences for insurance fraudsters once caught are life-changing as they face the prospect of heavy fines, a criminal record and imprisonment plus potentially restricted access to financial services.”

 

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