A woman from Acton was part of a London-based 'crash for cash' fraud gang that have been ordered to pay nearly £150,000 to insurers by a High Court judge.

Fatimeh Nikpar, 25, of Perrin Road, falsely claimed she was involved in a crash with others in September 2011.

Mr Justice Flaux slammed the culture of bogus car insurance claims, which he described as a "scourge" that left "law-abiding motorists" to pick up the bill.

He said those involved in the scam were unlikely to be "cash rich", but had to be made to pay for their dishonesty to deter others from doing the same.

The sentences handed down came only weeks after nearby Harrow was named as one of the UK "cash for crash" hotspots .

The judge told the court: "This form of crash for cash fraud has become far too prevalent and it is important that these particular defendants appreciate the seriousness of their conduct.

"It is also important that the level of damages awarded by this court acts as a deterrent - not only to these defendants, but to anyone else who may be tempted to involve themselves in this type of conduct."

Multiple 'staged' crashes

The court heard the scam involved insurance claims for nine staged car accidents in 2010 and 2011, in which 29 people claimed to have been injured or suffered car damage.

But investigators working for Direct Line insurance became suspicious when they realised most of the claims featured one or more of the same five car hire or claims management firms - all based in north London.

The similarities between all nine crashes also rang alarm bells and a number of those who had made claims were arrested by the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

Mr Justice Flaux told the court that some of those arrested confessed to the fraud, but that no prosecutions were brought because of "limited resources".

The court previously gave judgment in favour of Direct Line in relation to all but two defendants - who admitted their involvement in the conspiracy.

"A deterrent is necessary"

Marcus Grant, representing the insurers, said: "The defendants' conduct in seeking to defraud Direct Line amounted to an outrageous disregard of its rights.

"A deterrent is necessary to ensure the defendants do not attempt further fraud and a clear message is required from the court that those who attempt to commit fraud on an insurance company are at risk of losing more than their fabricated claim."

The judge ordered each defendant to pay £4,500, while three who had already received insurance payouts from Direct Line will also have to return that money.

He added: "Crash for cash has become a scourge, not only for the insurance industry, but also for the vast majority of law-abiding policy holders - since it inevitably leads to increased premiums for all."

Defendants dealt with at the High Court included:

  • Azita Akramzadeh, 40, and Bahman Talebi, 47, both of Lytton Road, Barnet

  • Meral Serdaroglu, 26, Melike Serdaroglu, 24, and Yeter Serdaroglu, 45, all of Romney House, Ayley Croft, Enfield

  • Laleh Saber, 45, and Mehdi Bogbadram, 57, both of Wynchwood Close, Edgware

  • Mr Bodbadram was also involved in another bogus claim within a week of the earlier one, along with Askhan Esteghlalian, 38, also of Wynchwood Close, Edgware, and Cem Aydin, 41, of Stoke Newington Road, east London

  • Juliana Kaganda, 26, of Joystone Court, Park Road, Barnet, and Nicola James, 27, of Ferney Road, New Barnet

  • Arif Guler, 53, Turgey Guler, 28, and Tufan Guler, 29, all of Burton Drive, Enfield, and Eleheh Arefi, 40, of Cornwall Avenue, Finchley

  • Afsaneh Alamdari, 48, and Sara Alamdari, 33, both of John Keats Lodge, Chase Side Crescent, Enfield, along with Iman Mohammadi, of Queensbridge Road, Dalston, east London