A businessman has been found guilty of masterminding a £1m-plus ‘cash for crashes’ fraud at a trial where nine other defendants have also been convicted for their role in the scam involving more than 200 false whiplash claims.

John Christopher Smith, 41, was convicted by jury of one count of fraud and seven counts of conspiracy to commit fraud following a three-month trial at Manchester Crown Court.

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Smith, from Grasmere Close, Connah’s Quay, was the managing director of Chester-based company Swift Accident Solutions, which specialised in personal injury claims.

In addition to Smith, a further nine defendants, who played a major role in organising the staged bus collisions, were all found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud. A further four defendants had already pleaded guilty to the same offence. All will be sentenced later.

During the trial, the jury heard that Smith was the ringleader of an elaborate ‘cash for crash′ scam in which he organised a number of minor accidents, typically involving a bus and a car, in the Chester area to create new claimants for his business.

The investigation by officers from Chester CID centred on a total of seven collisions which took place between October 2010 and January 2012 and all involved First Group buses.

First buses were among the Chester bus companies targeted by insurance fraudsters

All of the collisions followed similar scenarios, in which a car would collide with the side of a bus, causing both minimal impact and minimal damage. In each case the driver of the car would admit full liability, allowing all of the passengers from the bus to submit personal injury claims.

As a result of the seven collisions a total of 218 personal injury claims were submitted, with 177 of the claimants using Smith′s Swift Accident Solutions. The court heard how Smith earned payments of between £840 and £960 for each claimant he introduced to a solicitor.

Based on an average of £900 for each of the 177 claimants, the prosecution estimated that the seven collisions would have created a gross income of £159,000 for Smith. They believed the claims would account for over 75% of the total gross income received by Swift Accident Solutions during the period the collisions occurred.

Cliveden Road in Lache - the scene of one of the collisions
Cliveden Road in Lache - the scene of one of the collisions

All of the claims submitted by Swift Accident Solutions were for whiplash and soft tissue injuries, meaning that they could not be evidentially verified and instead relied on the truthfulness of the individual claimants.

The case came to light after First became suspicious about the number of collisions involving First Group buses that had occurred in the Chester area.

Swift Accident Solutions run by John Christopher Smith was based The Exchange in St John Street, Chester

Detective Inspector Simon Lonsdale from Chester CID said: “This was an extremely complex investigation spanning nearly three years and involving a large number of defendants. It has been a challenging process for all officers involved and has required considerable professional skills in relation to the investigation and the subsequent prosecution.

“As part of our investigation we conducted a significant number of interviews to gather the required evidence to prove that Smith and his associates had staged these collisions for the sole purpose of financial gain.

“The crime that they committed was not a victimless crime, had all of the false claims created by Smith and his associates been successful we believe that the total cost would have been over £1 million, which would have been paid for by law abiding citizens through their car insurance policies.”

Detective Constable Stephen Owens added: “The police have a duty to protect life, and although these collisions were all minor, they could have been much more serious. Yet despite the fact all of the collisions were minor, with minimal damage to both vehicles, they all resulted in multiple claims for personal injury claims, with the vast majority of these claims submitted via Smith’s company.

“Through our investigations and the evidence we have gathered, we have been able to identify a ‘passenger Network′ which shows that a large proportion of the claimants can be linked to each other. This network proves that over 90% of the claimants involved in the collisions are linked to each other.

“Although the trial against these defendants has now concluded, we will continue to investigate this case and further arrests are likely.”

Cheshire Police will continue to investigate cases such as this, and we encourage anyone who feels that they may have been a victim of fraud to contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. Alternatively, information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Other defendants found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud were: Charlotte Watts, 28, from Fford Almer, Wrexham; Daniel Shaw, 27, from Milton Road, Blacon, Chester; Dean Brown, 42, from Kings Crescent West, Chester; Luke McQuillan, 40, from Dyserth Road, Blacon; Michael Gentile, 45, from Hawthorn Road, Chester; Sean Kettyle, 43, from Westminster Road, Ellesmere Port; Richard Flynn, 48, from Church Street, Connah’s Quay and Andrew Shaw, 57, from Ashton Drive, Frodsham and Barry Cooper, 35, from Hall Lane, Connah’s Quay – Cooper was found not guilty on one count of conspiracy.

The following defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud before the trial: Howard Christopher Taylor, 36, of Gladstone Road, Seaforth; Christopher John Bethell, 30, of Crosthwaite Avenue, Eastham; Rachel Cooper, 32, of Oxton Road, Great Sutton and Jason Power of Pulford Road, Chester.

Found not guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud were: David Clancy, 36, from Normanby Drive, Connah’s Quay and Jamie Stokes, 22, from Gosmore Road, Mold.