Car accident claim news
08/03/2010

Whiplash fraudsters face payback order

Manchester Crown Court have ordered a car accident claim fraudster who defrauded insurance companies of more than £1.5 million to pay back a solitary pound of the £46,000 he made from his crimes.

It is understood that the court ordered only a nominal sum as the Bolton-based criminal spent the majority of his car accident claim proceeds on expensive clothes, home entertainment systems and household furniture. He is already serving a four-and-a-half year sentence for his crimes.

However, the man's girlfriend, who is currently serving a 12-month suspended sentence for converting and possessing criminal property has been ordered to pay back all of her £12,953 in assets.

The policeman who led the investigation into the fraud said that the girlfriend was aware of her boyfriend "having large sums of cash at his disposal, yet she took it regardless.

"She turned a blind eye to where it came from.

"She no doubt benefited significantly from [her boyfriend's] criminality and now the justice system is taking money back for victims of crime."

The fraudsters made over 90 staged car accident claims, mostly claiming compensation for whiplash.