Insurance Fraud Ringleaders Stage 92 Crashes...

A 'PHANTOM' driver made a fraudulent insurance claim over a crash when he was not even at the wheel, a jury has heard.Rashid Shaikh, 29, claimed to have been driving a black Audi A6 when it was hit by a Volvo at a roundabout on the A34 near Cheadle, Manchester Crown Court was told.

But the jury at his trial heard the car was really being driven by another man called Mohammed Patel, who earned tens of thousands of pounds in a complex 'crash for cash' scam.William Baker, prosecuting, said Patel, 24, earned £46,000 by staging 92 crashes on the north west's roads over three years.

Shaikh, of Victoria Road, Dewsbury, denies being involved in a conspiracy to commit fraud.Mr Baker said: "Between 2005 and 2008, Mohammed Patel staged over 90 road traffic accidents on roundabouts in the north west."He braked hard and stopped suddenly so that the car behind him could not avoid a collision. Some of them just touched it so the damage was very slight and nobody was injured. They all walked away.

Injuries "That was done so that other people like Rashid Shaikh could then make false insurance claims for injuries."The court was told that Shaikh and two other men submitted fraudulent insurance claims following the Audi crash at 3pm on October 25, 2005.Patel gave Shaikh's details to the Volvo driver when it ran into the back of the Audi, it was alleged.The Audi's owner - Iqbal Khan, 49, of Argo Street, Bolton - claimed more than £5,000 for the damage, it was said.

His son Ershad Khan, 22, also from Argo Street, Bolton, claimed to have been a passenger. He and Shaikh claimed for whiplash.It is claimed Shaikh conspired with Iqbal and Ershad Khan and Mohammed Patel to defraud the insurance firm.The Volvo driver's insurance firm set aside more than £20,000 to cover the three claims. But the company began an investigation after it became concerned all three, which were made through a Bolton-based claims' management firm, might be fake.Iqbal Khan hired a replacement VW Golf at the same time as the crash, the court was told.

Damage An engineer who went to look at the Audi believed it had been backed into a post so that 'thousands of pounds' of damage could be claimed, even though it was seen being driven away hardly damaged after the crash.Mr Baker said: "The prosecution case is that Rashid Shaikh agreed with Ershad and Iqbal Khan to make a fraudulent insurance claim for injuries suffered in an accident that he had never been involved in.

His defence is somebody else used his details without his knowledge."Mr Baker said: "The offences came to light after staff working in an office noticed there were a lot of collisions outside. "They began to pay attention to the collisions and saw it was the same man driving these cars, Mohammed Patel."Shaikh denies one count of conspiracy to defraud between January 2005 and June last year.Patel, 24, of Nottingham Drive, Bolton, earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud as well as a string of motoring offences.