Ex-prison mates get suspended sentence for £16k crash for cash con

Two men who shared a cell block in prison have been sentenced for staging a crash for cash collision and trying to defraud their insurers in a £16,000 whiplash claim.

Kais Bougoussa from east London pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation at the Old Bailey on 13 October and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment - suspended for two years.

Moez Chammeme from Cardiff, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation at the Old Bailey on 11 August and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Bougoussa has been put on a two year supervision order, while Chammeme has been ordered to undertake 120 hours unpaid work.

On 27 September 2012, Bougoussa called Admiral Insurance claiming that he had been driving his Jaguar on a road in Richmond, West London, when Chammeme pulled out of a side road in his Kia Sedona and collided with his car.

On 26 September 2012, Chammeme made a report to Ageas Insurance claiming that whilst driving his Kia Sedona in Richmond he came out of a side road and collided with Bougoussa’s Jaguar.

Both men told their insurers they did not know each other.

But an investigation by Admiral discovered that both men had spent several months in Littlehey prison at the same time.

Following this revelation, Admiral instructed an engineer to inspect both vehicles and subsequently referred the case to the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

Overlapping damage found on Bougoussa’s Jaguar indicated multiple impacts between the two vehicles, damage found on the Jaguar was consistent with it being stationery, while records showed that Chammeme had requested to send £100 in cash to Bougoussa’s wife to buy clothes for him.

City of London Police Detective Constable Paula Doyle who led IFED’s investigation, said: “It is very clear from the evidence that Chammeme and Bougoussa planned and staged a ‘crash for cash’ accident so that they could defraud their insurers out of thousands of pounds for damages, personal injury, vehicle hire and other expenses.

“This investigation is another example of IFED and the Insurance industry working together to bring criminals to justice and help reduce people’s insurance premiums.”

Admiral Group head of claims fraud Susan Evans added: “The collaboration that we are seeing across the industry is now unprecedented. The work done by the IFB in successfully engaging the public in reporting insurance fraud is helping insurers detect fraud earlier and more efficiently.”