THE boss of a Bolton-based legal claims firm who pocketed more than £12,000 from bogus “crash for cash”

insurance claims has been jailed for 21 months.

Asif Mallu, aged 38, of Jedburgh Avenue, Heaton, was part of a crime network which also involved driver Mohammed Patel, who was responsible for more than 90 staged car crashes across the North West.

Patel, of Nottingham Drive, Halliwell, was jailed for fourand- a-half years in October, 2009, after admitting to his part in the fraud.

He was paid a fee for deliberately crashing into other motorists’ cars, but it was claims firms such as Mallu’s that stood to make the most money, Minshull Street Crown Court heard yesterday.

Mallu ran Bolton-based claims management company 24/7 Direct Claims, which earned fees for referring people involved in car accidents to solicitors.

The court heard that Mallu created false invoices to support bogus claims for vehicle recovery, storage and repair, as well as representing fraudulent claimants in support of personal injury claims.

Mallu made 10 fraudulent claims between May and December, 2005, and the court heard yesterday that Mallu made £12,107 from his crimes.

He was ordered to pay back £7,250.

The scam was exposed by Operation Contact, a complex four-year investigation by Greater Manchester Police and the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Fifty people have now been convicted following the investigation, which started when office workers at Eden Point roundabout in Cheadle noticed a large number of crashes taking place with the same man driving each time.

Chief Insp Mark Dexter, from Greater Manchester Police, said: “Mallu’s company was registered under the terms of the Ministry of Justice, with a visible business premises in Bolton, and yet this was all a front for fraud.

“This result, however, sends a clear message to others that if they intend to defraud insurance companies the consequences are severe.

“The scam left these victims feeling cheated and violated, often with their premiums increased, so the idea this is a victimless crime is nonsense.”

Bolton has been named in reports by numerous organisations as one of the worst places in the country for “crash for cash” fraud.

It is estimated that motoring insurance fraud adds £44 to every driver’s insurance premium locally and costs £350 million a year nationally.