Gang members who orchestrated a crash for cash scam by smashing into innocent motorists in Derbyshire before submitting fraudulent insurance claims have been ordered to pay back more than £37,000.

Following a series of confiscation hearings the gang members who were previously convicted for their roles in the massive crash for cash scam have been ordered to pay back a total of £37,493.96 collectively.

The scam was exposed by Derbyshire Police and the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) with the help of its insurer members leading to a trial earlier this year, at which 11 people were sentenced for their part in the fraud resulting in a total of more than 42 years imprisonment for the gang.

The gang members were jailed for their involvement

The scam saw the gang deliberately targeting innocent motorists by crashing into them on public roads then submitting fraudulent insurance claims for financial gain; the investigation linked the gang to 111 claims going as far back as 2011.

The main orchestrators, Mohammed Asghar, Dharminder Nagra and Davinder Nagra, were using their own businesses to then submit fake claims to insurers for 'injuries' they had invented.

The fraud came to light when one of the individuals who worked for the gang became aware of the suspicious behaviour and staged a burglary at the business address to highlight the activity to the police.

As Derbyshire Police investigated the burglary and searched the property, they seized four laptops alongside a significant amount of documentation evidence linked to insurance fraud, which is when the IFB was contacted to support.

Adam Stark and Dharminder Singh Nagra were found guilty of fraud
Adam Stark and Dharminder Singh Nagra were found guilty of fraud

The investigation uncovered that the gang centred round Derby Enterprise and TTM Recovery, which was submitting fraudulent claims for personal injury and vehicle storage following the crashes. Derby Enterprise was a claims management company set up by Dharminder and Davinder Nagra, operating outside of any regulation, in an attempt to authenticate their scam and ultimately increase the value of the claims.

IFB’s uses its advanced analytical software to identify fraud and link together cross-industry patterns and networks of activity.

The following sentences have been handed down:

  • Mohammed Asghar: 7 years imprisonment, reduced to 5 years for guilty plea
  • Dharminder Nagra - 5 years imprisonment
  • Davinder Nagra – 5 years imprisonment
  • Nasir Ahmed - 7 years imprisonment, reduced to 5 years and 3 months for guilty plea
  • Adam Stark: 4 years and 9 months imprisonment
  • Martin Walker: 6 and a half years imprisonment, reduced to 5 years 3 months for guilty plea
  • Arsalan Hussain: 4 years imprisonment
  • Liam Swinfield: 3 and a half years imprisonment, reduced to 31 months for guilty plea
  • Dorothy Baker: 3 years imprisonment, reduced to 30 months for guilty plea
  • Nicola Brown: 3 years imprisonment, reduced 21 months for guilty plea
  • Anthony Walker: 21 months imprisonment, reduced to 18 months for guilty plea

The payment orders following the confiscation hearings are as follows:

  • Martin Walker - £13,253.94
  • Arsalaan Hussain - £11,504.00
  • Adeel Aziz - £7,273.00
  • Davinder Nagra - £2,500
  • Adam Stark - £2,434.59
  • Nicola Brown - £400
  • Dharminder Nagra - £67.48
  • Muhammad Asghar - £60.95
  • Dorothy Bacon, Liam Swinfield, Naseer Ahmed and Anthony Walker were all made the subject of a nominal order.

The offenders now have up to three months to pay their orders. Those who had no assets to confiscate received nominal orders. This means that the courts can confiscate any assets they obtain in the future up to the amount they made from their criminal activity.

Jason Potter, IFB head of investigations, said: "This gang was a group of calculated individuals who were putting the lives of innocent motorists at risk for profit without a second thought. The prison sentences they are currently serving already demonstrate how we are clamping down on these criminals and these confiscation orders go a step further to send a clear message that insurance fraud will not be tolerated."