Man on trial after fraudster makes £46,000 from 92 crashes
Rashid Shaikh, 29, been accused at Manchester Crown Court of a crash-for-cash insurance fraud, after Mohammed Patel, 24, the real driver, was said to have won £46,000 from 92 staged crashes in three years, papers report.
Shaikh, of Victoria Road, Dewsbury, denies being involved in a conspiracy to commit fraud.
Shaikh was said to be driving a black Audi A6 when it was hit by a Volvo at a roundabout on the A34 near Cheadle, but the jury was told Patel was the real driver.
Owners have already admitted guilt
The Audi's owner - Iqbal Khan, 49, of Argo Street, Bolton - claimed more than £5,000 for the damage. His son Ershad Khan, 22, also from Argo Street, Bolton, claimed to have been a passenger. He and Shaikh claimed for whiplash.
It is claimed Shaikh conspired with Iqbal and Ershad Khan and Mohammed Patel to defraud the insurance firm.
An engineer who went to look at the Audi believed it had been backed into a post so that 'thousands of pounds' of damage could be claimed, even though it was seen being driven away hardly damaged after the crash.
Office workers report spate of crashes
Baker said: "The offences came to light after staff working in an office noticed there were a lot of collisions outside. They began to pay attention to the collisions and saw it was the same man driving these cars, Mohammed Patel."
Shaikh denies one count of conspiracy to defraud between January 2005 and June last year.
Patel, 24, of Nottingham Drive, Bolton, earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud as well as a string of motoring offences.
Reversed into lamppost
The Times claimed the car received no more than a few scratches when the Volvo ran into the back of it but that afterwards the car was deliberately reversed into a lamppost to cause more damage, allowing it to be classed as a write-off.
Both Iqbal and Ershad Khan have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, the jury was told. Mr Baker told the court that Mr Shaikh claimed that his name was used without his knowledge for the fraudulent insurance submission.
Motion Accident Services in Bolton took the fraudsters’ claim on a no-win, no-fee basis.
16 plead guilty
The Telegraph claimed the car was hit at less than 10 mph.
Sixteen others, from Bolton, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale, who put in false injury and damage claims have also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy.
The trial continues.
