West Midlands man guilty of £15,000 fraud
A fraudster from the West Midlands who lied and lied again in his bid to win whiplash compensation for a road crash that never happened has been handed a 12-month jail term.
Bernard Parmar faced AIG across a courtroom as he was caught out making a fraudulent claim for up to £15,000 damages.
He signed no less than six “false” documents, hoodwinked a doctor and even gave sworn evidence in court that he had been injured in a September 2012 road accident.
Parmar claimed he was the driver of a Jaguar which collided with a Vauxhall Corsa which drove into his path in Newton Road, Great Barr.
He pursued the case all the way to Walsall County Court but his case collapsed before Judge Gregory in July last year.
The judge described the father-of-three as a “patently and persistently dishonest witness” who was “wholly unworthy of belief”.
Claims that the force of the collision was enough to shear off the Corsa’s steering wheel, whilst the Jaguar only suffered minimal apparent damage, were “ludicrous”, he said.
Expert engineering evidence put forward by AIG proved that there had never been an accident at all, he ruled.
In the light of that damning decision, the insurance company launched further court action to have Parmar sent to prison for contempt.
Parmar’s lawyers described him as a devoted family man with health problems who now admitted his wrongdoing.
But Judge Robert Owen QC told Birmingham High Court Parmar had attempted to interfere with the course of justice and perpetrate a serious fraud.
The bid for compensation was “carefully planned” and sworn statements Parmar made to back up his claim were “wholly false and groundless”
The judge told him: “On your own admission, you have made a wholly false claim for damages with which you persisted throughout the trial process up to and including attending the trial and giving oral testimony on oath”.
Jailing him for 12 months, the judge concluded: “It is well understood by the public and people like you who decide knowingly to attempt to defraud and undermine the legal system that those who undertake this behaviour may expect a sentence or imprisonment”
Judge Owen jailed Parmar on August 23, but his decision has only just been published
No comments yet