FOUR men were this afternoon being sentenced at Bradford Crown Court for their roles in a "determined and sophisticated" £170,000 crash for cash scam.

Earlier today the court heard how the scammers stole the identities of elderly care home residents and used a charity bank account during the offending.

Israr Hussain, 32, of Spencer Street, Keighley, and Shazad Shad, 30, of Edensor Road, Keighley, both pleaded guilty this morning to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to money launder, between January 1, 2011, and February 28, 2014.

Muhammed Taj, 41, of Victoria Avenue, Lawkholme, Keighley, and Ansar Mahmood, 31, of Manchester Road, Nelson, Lancashire, admitted conspiracy to money launder.

Fozia Kausar, 32, of Red Holt Crescent, Keighley, and Mohammed Farooq, 27, of Spencer Street, Keighley, were both found not guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.They were discharged from the dock by Judge Peter Benson.

Shad also pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon on April 23, 2013.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said he told the police he thought the CS gas canister found under his bed was Silly String.

Miss Robinson said Hussain and Shad were involved in "a lengthy, determined and sophisticated course of offending."

Taj and Mahmood's role was to allow their bank accounts to be used.

Miss Robinson said Hussain and Shad claimed more than £167,000 by sending bogus personal injury claims to law firms.

Unlike some crash for cash frauds, this one did not involve any actual vehicle collisions.

The scammers used false names, addresses and forged identity papers to obtain referral fees for road accidents that never took place at all.

Elderly people in care homes, who had since passed away, had their identities stolen and rental cars supposedly involved in crashes were sitting on their firm's forecourts at the time. The fraudsters even used the bank account details for the BBC's Children in Need appeal, the court was told.

Pressure was put on the legal firms by the fraudsters for quick settlements, the court was told.

Miss Robinson said that 14 specific frauds were investigated by the police.

The conmen invented fake claims management companies or stole the identities of genuine businesses.

When the payment of referral fees was banned in England and Wales on April 1, 2013, the fraudsters fleeced firms in Scotland instead.

Miss Robinson said Hussain and Shad were "arrogant" enough to continue the fraud on police bail after they were arrested on April 23, 2013.

In victim impact statements, law firms from across the country detailed the effects of the fraud on their businesses. Some had suffered losses of more than £20,000. Staff had been laid off and one firm had closed down.

The scam was uncovered by investigators from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, in partnership with West Yorkshire Police.