Sun, Feb 8, 2015

Six people from the district have been charged over an alleged conspiracy to commit 'crash for cash' insurance fraud over a three-year-period, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal today.

Five men and a woman from Keighley will appear in court next week after a long-running investigation by a London-based specialist anti-fraud squad.

All six have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to commit money laundering. One of the men has also been charged with possession of CS gas spray.

They will appear at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

An investigation by City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department into suspected "contrived collision fraud" led to several raids on Keighley properties in Spring 2013.

It is a class of fraud that can include “crash for cash” insurance claims - accidents staged deliberately to claim injury compensation.

As part of a joint operation with West Yorkshire Police, eight properties in the town were raided and five people arrested on the morning of April 23. Also present on the raids were the head of the department, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Wood, and representatives from the Ministry of Justice.

Subsequent raids in the town on May 24 and July 10 resulted in two further arrests.

Six of those arrested as part of the operation have now been charged.

Charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to commit money laundering are Israr Hussain, 31, of Red Holt Crescent, Fozia Kausar 31, also of Red Holt Crescent, Ansar Mahmood,31, whose address has not yet been disclosed, Muhammad Taj 41, of Victoria Avenue and Mohammed Farooq, 26, of Spencer Street.

A sixth man, Shazad Shad, 30, of Edensor Road, has also been charged with the same two offences, as well as an additional charge of possession of CS Spray, which is illegal in the UK.

The fraud and money laundering charges relate to the period between January 7, 2011 to February 28, 2014.

The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department is funded by the Association of British Insurers, and based with City of London Police. It looks at insurance based crimes across England and Wales.

It is made up of police detectives and financial investigators who mainly target motor insurance fraud, commercial and public liability fraud and emerging trends like illegal insurance advisers.

Many of their tip offs come from insurance providers.

In November figures revealed that Bradford was the ninth worst area of the country for crash for cash crimes.