DETECTIVES in Hertfordshire have become the first to successfully crack a dangerous gang of criminals who claimed for fictitious car accidents.

The groundbreaking convictions were the conclusion of a two-year investigation by Hertfordshire’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit, which named St Albans as the south’s hot-spot for the crime.

Khaleeq Ur-Ehman, 30, from Milford Close, St Albans, was one of 13 men and women who scammed insurance companies out of thousands in damage pay-outs, loss of earnings, injury claims and hire cars after staging accidents.

The fraudsters would have pocketed a total of around £250,000 if all the claims had been paid out.

Detective Constable Julian Griffiths said: “We found there were a number of vehicles involved in accidents taking place in the same way, at the same time of day and all the drivers were making claims even though the police and ambulance were not called.

“Then we realised the people seemed to be connected to each other.

“The overriding principle was that the accidents never actually happened and it became clear that a lot of organisation went into this.

“It’s a relatively new type of crime to the UK, first heard of in Leeds and Blackburn in 2000 but now it’s spread to the south where St Albans, Watford and Luton are certainly the hot-spots.”

Ring leaders Bobby and Amear Gul, from Watford, who also had a council flat in Hatfield, would sell on cars to friends or relatives days before the alleged accident took place and hand them scripts of what to say when making a claim.

The offending car would usually be damaged by driving it into a brick wall or smashing it with a JCB bucket, but the second vehicle would be left unharmed – despite a claim for damages being made.

Ummar Hussain, who worked for GSK Motors in Luton, would claim he had recovered the vehicle and get in touch with accident management companies.

Over an eight-month period six accidents were staged, including one in Coopers Green Lane, St Albans.

Mr Griffiths added: “This is the first time a group like this has been prosecuted. The judge had no case law to look at.

“It was a long and difficult process. We had nothing to draw from and some of our techniques were untested.”

The team was guided by the Insurance Fraud Bureau, which was formed in July 2006 to clamp down on insurance fraud.

Detective Sergeant Steve Hynes, who led the case, added: “This is a really serious problem, but it’s not really recognised as type of crime by most forces.

“We are trying to show forces how serious this is – when you look at the amount of money involved which then goes on to be laundered you see how serious the implications are.

“It’s becoming more dangerous and that could result in serious injuries, or even deaths.”

The 13, from St Albans, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Luton and Watford were convicted for conspiracy to defraud insurance companies and received a total of ten years imprisonment.

The Agul brothers are serving a two-and-a-half year prison term each, and Hussain is serving a 15-month sentence. Ur-Ehman was given a six month suspended sentence.

Mr Hynes, who now gives presentations to other forces about the investigation, said: “Our message to the public is to be aware, if you have an accident be suspicious about how it really happened and if you think there could be something wrong then call the police.”

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