Mohammed Patel, from Bolton, duped innocent motorists by suddenly slamming his brakes on at roundabouts so cars would crash into the back of his car.
Nearly every day for three years, he staged hundreds of collisions at the A34 Handforth bypass in Cheadle Hulme, outside the Trafford Centre and at junction 10 of the M65 at Burnley.
He picked on lone, mostly elderly female drivers he believed wouldn't cause a fuss and exchanged insurance details.
His favourite trick was to disengage his brake lights so the target motorist travelling behind would have no warning.
He charged up to £500 for his clients, crashing their cars so they could make massively inflated insurance claims.
His customers - who were not even present during the staged bumps - would often claim there were four people in the car who each suffered whiplash injuries and invent extra damage.
Who else has been sent to prison this month? Sentences and photo gallery
Each crash resulted in an average £17,000 insurance claim.
The scam began to unravel in 2005 when officer workers spotted an 'alarming number' of bumps at the Eden Point roundabout near Cheadle.
Greater Manchester Police, backed by the insurance industry, started a huge investigation.
The huge scale of the fraud - then thought to be worth £8m - was first revealed in October, 2008.
Now the total value of bogus insurance claims by his operation has been estimated at £12m although police are continuing to investigate the scam and the figure could rise still further.
Patel and his girlfriend, Ettorina Hay, enjoyed a millionaire lifestyle thanks to his crime.
He bought her a £15,000 Lincoln Navigator and a £15,000 Mercedes Kompressor. He paid for her home to be furnished including a 50in plasma TV and gave her £1,000-a-month spending money. Her wardrobe was full of expensive designer clothes.
Patel, 25, of Nottingham Drive, Bolton, was jailed for four and half years after he admitted conspiracy to defraud, seven counts of dangerous driving and three counts of driving whilst disqualified.
He admitted a sample of 93 staged collisions although police believe he was responsible for 'several hundred'.
His girlfriend, Hay, of Kirkby Road, Bolton, admitted money laundering.
Sentencing on Hay was adjourned for reports. She was released on bail but warned she faced jail.
Some 23 others, mostly Patel's clients, are also due to be sentenced for their part in the scam.
Judge Bernard Lever, told Patel: "Decent motorists of this country are disgusted by this conduct and sick and tired of paying for it.
"The innocent drivers in these staged collisions may have suffered injury, shock and distress and, of course, depending on the claim, they lost their no claims bonus. They may have suffered an increase insurance premium and if they drove for a living they may have suffered more severe penalties."
He added: "This is not a victimless fraud. This kind of fraud costs the industry £1.9bn and this adds, we are told, in relation to motor premiums, about £49 on every single motorists' insurance premium."
The court case was the culmination of a massive police investigation led by Sgt Mark Beales.
Afterwards, he said: "The roads are a much safer place now that Mohammed Patel has received a custodial sentence. Patel was playing Russian roulette with people's lives. It's pure chance that no-one had been killed or seriously injured. He picked on single females and old people who were not going to cause and commercial vehicle drivers who weren't that bothered.
"This sentence sends out a clear message to anybody thinking about embarking on this type of criminality that the stakes are high the police will leave no stone unturned to bring them to justice."
The Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates 'crash for cash' scams cost insurance companies £350m a year.
Deputy chairman Richard Davies said: "Fraud as a whole adds £44 to every single insurance policy we buy. If you have three or four policies, that adds up to a considerable sum. The bureau was set up in 2006 as a response to 'crash for cash'. This is the latest in a long line of prosecutions. We have 25 across the country still pending. So I'm very clear there will be more prosecutions that will hopefully deter this kind of activity in the UK."
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Surley a just punishment would have been to put him in a car and let it crash at 40mph with him in it. I have to say the way some people drive though leaves themselves open to this sort of thing. The woman who drove straight out infront of me at the round about the other day for example, I could have smashed into her, claimed for whiplash, loss of earnings etc. as she put herself in an undefendable position. Crap driver beware and think twice about what you're doing!
This scum needs to get a six year sentence at least people like this undermine our system and costs us the innocent more than £30 extra each year on our insurance.
Did nobody question where the other three people were when the crash happened and the claims started rolling in and, if someone claimed they were injured, the police should have been notified by law. If the police had been involved, they would have noticed the brake lights "disengaged"
I'm damned sure if I had an accident and there was some uncertainty with the claim of the third party, I would be raising questions with my insurers.
Take every asset off him and his girlfriend, sell them and pay the money back to insurers on the promise that they reduce all their customers premiums back to a reasonable level
what a repulsive waste of skin and bone. Get a proper job you disgusting specimen.
Make him pay back every penny of the 12 million. Him and all those involved.
jailed for 4 1/2 years, and get this Banned from driving for 3 1/2 years if you told this to aliens they would laugh at your stupidity
4 and Half years is not going to hurt him, it's the Proceeds of Crime I hope!
And just look at his innocent Face on the photo....
soare people hu genuinly lost out goin to be reembursed
my son was caught out by a lowlife like patel, but he used his mobile phone camera to film the very little damage,there was one person in the car who was not hurt.two weeks later the insurence people were in touch with him,a claim was pending for 3 thousand pounds and a claim for whiplash,my son told them about the camra and its contents,that is now being used in a court case,i just hope they get what they deserve,my son as worked hard since leaving school,never been in trouble ,but the grief this as caused him as left him very down.
£12 million? it was £1.6 million on the Guardian website? and hardly a "millionaire lifestyle" when he only got £500 a time!
Still, hope he drops the soap every day he spends inside.
Always take a photo of the vehicle and its occupants, else call the police.
scum bag make him pay all the money back get his victims there no claims back plus a new car and ban him and his g/f for life and others involved banned for life......if he ever works take half his pay.......that should do the trick.
Another toe rag bites the dust.
Does not quite look like a "Mastermind" to me.
Just looks like a thicko taking advantage of the system.
Shame on you and all your family, I hope everyone involved in this scam choke to death on the money they have milked out of the system, this is why our Insurance premiums are so high, it’s due to these scums who don’t want to work but live a good life by scamming one way or another, get a real job, hope you all rot in hell.
Also there are just to many compensation companies being set up, All I can say is if you have an accident but survive you should thank god that you are still alive, not blatantly screw the insurance companies.
Out for nowt.When will this country learn......Never
Guess who has made the most out these scams??????????
Right 1st Time. The Solicitors and, please, do not try and tell me that the ones involved did not know EXACTLY what was going on.
Will the Police investigate these "White Collar" criminals?????????? I very much doubt it, but, we can live in hope.
Judge Bernard Lever, This kind of fraud costs the industry £1.9bn and this adds, we are told, in relation to motor premiums, about £49 on every single motorists' insurance premium."
The Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates 'crash for cash' scams cost insurance companies £350m a year. Deputy chairman Richard Davies said: "Fraud as a whole adds £44 to every single insurance policy we buy.
...£1.9bn or £350m????
hope none of the victims are driving behind me when i need to stop suddenly
Give him hard labour Drive him up the wall like he as done to others SCUM.
four and a half years, out in two. Where is the justice in that? This man was a full time fraudster. Have his assets been seized and the proceeds been returned? I think I know the answer. He will be out enjoying his house, his car and his money that will have been squirreled away.
Would the last decent honest hard working person in the UK please switch the lights off when they leave.
I hope Mohammed was declarig his earnings, otherwise he should be getting a call from the tax man too.
i think you will find when you take your driving test, you should be a safe enough distance so if the car in front breaks suddenly there is adequate time to stop, you cant make someone crash into you and it not be your fault
He's your classic cockroach: doesn't want to contribute to society at all but wants a nice lifestyle. There are literally thousands like him - working all kinds of insurance scams, benefit scames, charity scams. Don't know about the other posters but I'm fed up of getting up at 6.30 to go to work all day to earn money whilst rodents like him just take.
But what can we do? It's gone too far to stop.