Twenty-six fraudulent claims for whiplash injuries, worth over £250,000, had been submitted
A ‘cash-for-crash’ gang has been found guilty for taking part in an insurance scam worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The court heard how Mohammed Gulzar and Shoaib Nawaz had filled a single-decker First Mainline bus with ‘fake’ passengers and along with the driver, plotted to deliberately crash it at a low speed into a Vauxhall Zafira.
Inquiries began after the bus collided with the back of the car in Sheffield in June 2011.
Officers from the Insurance Fraud Bureau and South Yorkshire Police worked together on ‘Operation Lollilop’ to uncover the scam that saw 26 fraudulent claims submitted for whiplash injuries, worth more than £250,000.
The investigation led to an accident claims company, called City Claims 4 U, run by Gulzar and Nawaz, after officers received information that it had been submitting fraudulent claims to insurance companies.
These were further bolstered by false claims for the hiring-out of replacement vehicles, which were provided by CCC Hire 4 U, another company, owned by Mohammed Omar Gulzar.
The court also heard the fraudsters had staged several crashes in Halifax, Sheffield and Rotherham between October 2010 and July 2011.
The fraud involved false claims for personal injury, vehicle damage, recovery and storage costs and claims for hire vehicles.
Gulzar, Nawaz, Javed Khan, and Sami Selam were yesterday found guilty of conspiracy to defraud following a six-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.
A further seven men, including the bus and car driver, had admitted their part in the fraud at the start of the trial.
All defendants will be sentenced at a later date.
The IFB says it is currently investigating more than 90 criminal gangs involved in ‘crash-for-cash’ fraud.
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