Four people who were allegedly involved in a massive crash-for-cash insurance scam recently went on trial at Carlisle Crown Court.
The suspected fraudsters have been accused of working with Mark McCracken, the scam mastermind who already admitted to committing fraud,
News & Star reported.
The four who faced the court were Robert Skelton, Diane Dutton, Andrew Dawson and Sarah Dawson. All four had denied the charges.
Prosecutor Tim Evans said the case involved insurance claims for fake car crashes in Carlisle, Silloth, Millom and Wigton, where McCracken’s family lived.
The bogus car crash involving Skelton is said to have happened on January 17, 2012 while the incident involving the other three supposedly took place on January 27 of the same year.
According to
News & Star, the case of the four suspects is part of a series of 13 allegations involving insurance payouts of £239,000. The value of the entire fraud, however, amounted to £500,000, Evans noted.
Evans said that “all of the charges are just part of a pattern of overall criminality.”
“The insurance scam was organised by Mark McCracken. He used false names to claim against other drivers,”
News & Star quoted Evans as saying.
“He set up false names and identity documents and false bank accounts for the purposes of these frauds,” he added.
Evans said suspicions of fraud were raised as the bogus claims were generally made within days of the insurance being set up.
The fraud suspects’ trial is expected to last for three days,
News & Star reported.
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