Bedfordshire Police has today arrested 10 people on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies as part of a major investigation into an organised criminal enterprise based in Luton. The current investigation is targeting the group's activities in staging fraudulent accidents otherwise known as ‘cash for crash' fraud offences.
The six-month long investigation, code named Operation Exhort, culminated in this morning's dawn raids at a total of four addresses, two in south Bedfordshire, one in St Albans and one in Reading.
Working with the Crown Prosecution Service, Bedfordshire Police will restrain over £1,000,000 worth of assets from those arrested today with a view to ultimately confiscating those assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Around 250 Bedfordshire police officers, some of whom were armed, were deployed to carry out the arrests and subsequent searches of properties which are still on going.
Substantial financial sums are thought to have been accumulated by the people involved in the scam who are suspected of making false insurance claims following staged vehicle collisions. Also known as ‘cash for crash', the scam involves offenders causing collisions between themselves and innocent motorists who then have to claim on their insurance even though they weren't at fault.
Bedfordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Grahame Bullock said: “While making false claims is very serious and affects us all by putting our insurance premiums up, there is clearly another element to this scam which involves large scale money laundering and using the proceeds to fund other more serious types of crime.”
John Beadle, Chairman of the Insurance Fraud Bureau said: “Today's arrests demonstrate the effectiveness of the insurance industry and police working collaboratively to protect innocent motorists and policyholders.”
