A gang of six men behind a multi-million pound ‘crash for cash’ scam has been convicted.

The gang operated mainly in north London, and attempted to defraud the UK insurance industry of about £5.6m by convincing people to let them use their cars for pre-planned crashes, before making exaggerated or fraudulent claims.

Samoon Baryali, 39, of Evelyn Avenue, Colindale, Yousaf Haider, 44, of Newham, and Afaq Anjum Njum, of Salford were each found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Mohammad Farshad Samoon, 28, of Evelyn Avenue, Colindale was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud.

Jalid Hanadzai, 24, of Gaydon Lane, Colindale and Muhammad Akik Miah, 38, of Hounslow pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one count of conspiracy to defraud.

All were bailed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing on October 2, except Hanadzai, who was remanded in custody for sentencing on the same date.

The conviction followed a five-week trial at Isleworth Crown Court, and a joint investigation between the Metropolitan Police, Zurich Insurance, Direct Line Insurance Group, and the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

The gang ran a claims management company called Herald Claims Limited from an office block in north London.

The investigation found that the gang would recruit drivers who would be willing to hand over their cars to be deliberately crashed into - commonly referred to as the stooge vehicle.

The gang would then drive its vehicle - the decoy car - in convoy with the stooge vehicle. The two cars would drive around until a suitable victim was found.

The two cars would then put themselves directly in front of the victim's car, and then the decoy vehicle would brake hard, causing the stooge vehicle to over-exaggerate the braking and stop, resulting in the victim's car crashing into the back of theirs.

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Rickett, from the Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: "This was an audacious criminal act, carried out by unscrupulous people whose sole aim was to line their pockets at the expense of their victims. They did not care whatsoever that their reckless acts endangered the lives of innocent people.

"We are committed to detecting, disrupting and arresting those involved in crime as demonstrated by our thorough and robust investigation, which left no stone unturned in catching these offenders."

Ben Fletcher, director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, said: "Induced accidents like this form part of the 'crash for cash' insurance fraud phenomenon and the reality is that these scams have a real impact on society by putting the lives of innocent people at risk and costing honest policy holders almost £400 million each year.

“Insurance cheats should be aware that the Insurance Fraud Bureau works very closely with the police and the insurance industry to detect fraudsters and bring them to justice."