Whiplash compensation news
05/11/2009
Car crash claim fraudsters receive prison

Three men from Rochdale who were part of the notorious "cash for crash" whiplash compensation gang that made fraudulent claims at a cost of around £12 million have each been sentenced to six months in prison for conspiracy to defraud.

The whiplash compensation three, two 25-year-old brothers and a 27-year-old man, charged would-be claimants for each staged accident and typically sought to induce car crashes with the vehicles driven by elderly women drivers.

The scam first came to the attention of police in 2005 after workers at an office by a roundabout in Cheadle noticed that a worrying number of "similar" accidents were occurring in the same spot.

After sentence had been passed on the whiplash compensation trio, a police spokesperson commented, "The sentences passed reflect how seriously the criminal justice system takes these matters.

"The claimants in the scam were willing participants, and the conspiracy would not have existed without their cooperation.

"They now have criminal convictions and have quite rightly been sent to prison.

"This should send a clear message to those who are involved in this type of criminality.

"If you want to take that risk, be sure of one thing, you will be prosecuted, we will put you before the courts, and we will seize your assets."