Six men who obtained at least £1.5m from insurers through insurance fraud and money laundering were found guilty at Harrow Crown Court on 7 December.

The trial had lasted 14 weeks, after an investigation which started six years ago. The organised ring had made hundreds of fraudulent claims against motor insurers, alleging fictitious accidents.

The London-based fraud was discovered in 1999 by John McCann, then investigations and intelligence manager at the Maidstone office of Miller Pycraft.

Two claims against Fortis Insurance were identified as fraud and gradually more and more claims were discovered throughout the market.

A major investigation was mounted, funded by Fortis with support from AXA, Direct Line, Admiral, Norwich Union and Zenith Motor Insurance Policies at Lloyd's.

In court, evidence of 165 claims was produced which had raised at least £1.5m from insurers.

The guilty men are Saad Maki Abdul Jalil and his brother Raad Maki Abdul Jallil; Amjad Hussein; Ali Abbas; Maytham Al Karim and Hassannen Al Hakim.

All were charged with conspiracy to defraud and the Jalil brothers were also charged with money laundering. The men's sentences will be delivered on 22 December.

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