Forty Car fraudsters Face Court
Post Magazine 19 June 2008 / 19th June 2008
Forty people have been charged in connection with an alleged £5.3 million 'cash for crash' fraud.

Forty people have been charged in connection with an alleged £5.3 million 'cash for crash' fraud. Bedfordshire Police, assisted by the Insurance Fraud Bureau uncovered a conspiracy to defraud insurance companies by a criminal gang in Luton in 2006.

After a 2 year investigation, codenamed "Operation Exhort" the arrest were made.  Twenty six of the defendants were due to appear at Luton Magistrates Court on 17th and 18th June to answer a number of fraud charges.  The remaining 14 are expected to appear in court on 24th July.

The arrests follow dawn raids in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Berkshire by over 250 officers. The scam invloved the alleged offenders deliberately causing accidents with innocent motorists to then make fake insurance claims.

Chairman of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, John Beadle, said," The investigation is just one of a number the IFB has been able to assist in."