PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Two brothers at the heart of one of the country's biggest ever "crash for cash" car insurance scams have been jailed.
Police say Rezwan Javed, 34, and his older brother Rehan, 36, made £995,915 from defrauding insurers after bogus bumps on the road.
The pair, both from Dovedale Close, Burnley, Lancs, were sentenced to jail at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester after being found guilty at an earlier trial of conspiracy to defraud and possession of an article for use in fraud.
They would get associates to drive around and stop at roundabouts. While the car behind them was looking right for traffic to clear so they could then edge forward, the Javeds' drivers in front would slam on their brakes, causing a shunt.
They then made bogus claims for repairs, write-offs and storage costs, also claiming there were three people in the car hit from behind. Each bogus claim netted around £3,000.
Rezwan Javed was sentenced to six years in prison and Rehan was sentenced to five years. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, they were both ordered to pay £156,000 and given six months to pay it.
Passing sentence, Judge Bernard Lever said: "This is not a victimless crime either in financial or human terms. Some of the targeted occupants were elderly and children.
"Many lost their no claims bonus and had to pay greatly enhanced premiums. Some suffered trauma and nervous shock."
Sergeant Mark Beales, of the Road Crime Unit at Greater Manchester Police, said: "This result sends a clear message to others that if they intend to defraud insurance companies the consequences are severe.
"However, we also want to make it clear that while insurance companies are victims, the innocent drivers involved in these collisions were made to feel as though they were in the wrong."