THE prime movers in "a ruthless and determined" £167,000 'crash for cash' fraud have each been jailed for four and a half years.

Former neighbours Israr Hussain and Shazad Shad fleeced legal firms across the country with bogus road accident claims over a three year period, Bradford Crown Court heard.

They stole the identities of elderly people in care homes and used the BBC Children in Need appeal's bank account details as part of the scam.

Hussain, 32, of Spencer Street, Keighley, and Shad, 30, of Edensor Road, Keighley, pleaded guilty 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.

They were both sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for two years. Mahmood must do 200 hours of unpaid work and Taj, who had no previous convictions, 150 hours.

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.

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

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said he told the police the CS gas canister found under his bed was silly string.

Hussain was in breach of a suspended jail sentence imposed in 2011 for a similar fraud.

Shad was in breach of a suspended prison sentence for conspiracy to money launder.

Judge Peter Benson told the four defendants, in a packed courtroom: "You have all played a part in a sophisticated and determined conspiracy to defraud firms of solicitors."

The fraud involved the use of false names, stolen identity documents, and details about vehicles that had not been in any sort of accident.

"The beauty of this fraud was that you did not need to stage actual crashes," Judge Benson said.

During the period of the scam, 300 bogus claims netted £167,246.

Some of the criminal cash was laundered through the bank accounts of Mahmood and Taj, although Miss Robinson said there was nothing to show they benefited from the fraud.

Describing Hussain and Shad as the prime movers, Judge Benson told them: "You ruthlessly and determinedly carried out these fraudulent activities."

Miss Robinson told the court 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.

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

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

When the payment of referral fees to claims management companies for personal injury claims was banned in England and Wales, in April 2013, the fraudsters went on to fleece firms in Scotland.

Miss Robinson said Hussain, who used some of the money to pay his mortgage, and Shad were arrogant enough to continue the fraud on police bail.

In victim impact statements, law firms 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.

Stephen Uttley, defence barrister for Hussain, said he was married with four young children.

There had been amateurish elements to the scan. Hussain had used his own contract phone, and £7,000 of the money had gone into his bank account.

"This process of ambulance chasing is now unlawful. Now, hopefully, that gate has been closed," Mr Uttley said.

Jeremy Barton said Shad was now aware of the disastrous effects of the fraud on other people's lives and was genuinely sorry.

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

The enquiry team was commended by Judge Benson for its diligent work in uncovering the complex fraud.

After the case, Detective Constable Alex Cooley, who led the investigation for the IFED, said: "The gang built a sophisticated web of deceit involving identity crime, credit card fraud and insurance fraud, believing mistakenly their dishonesty was going unnoticed.

"However IFED has the resources and capability to untangle the most complex criminal arrangements in our pursuit of those who seek to defraud. As a result of this expertise Israr Hussain and Shazad Shad are now facing jail-time and a life blighted by a criminal record."