Bashir Zairi, pictured, of Malvern Road, deliberately set up road accidents involving innocent and vulnerable drivers so he could make fake claims to insurance companies. He particularly targeted Tesco delivery vans.
Once a crash took place the 30-year-old would be paid out for personal injury, vehicle hire, vehicle storage, recovery and damages. He was caught when the supermarket giant alerted the police to a surge in insurance claims involving their delivery vehicles and a criminal investigation called Operation Catcher was launched.
Working with Tesco.com, the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), Hill Dickinson LLP and the wider insurance industry, officers identified Zairi as a suspect.
Enquiries revealed he had committed a number of deliberately staged, induced or contrived crashes with a financial value of £313,000, of which he was paid £279,267.
Ben Fletcher, IFB director, said: “The IFB works to detect ‘Crash for Cash’ scams which put the lives of innocent people at risk and costs almost £400 million each year, and to identify fraudsters who are selling fake insurance. The notion of insurance fraud as a ‘victimless crime’ is out-dated and this sentence rightfully reflect the severity of the offences.”
