A MULTI-million-pound cash for crash scam which has seen 60 people convicted of fraud was run by a notorious family from their North East village, a court has heard.
Paul Jonathon Wright and his brother Alan Wright were key players in an insurance fraud which sent premiums soaring for other motorists in County Durham.
Some 60 people have been convicted of playing various roles in the deception, which involved claims being made for bogus accidents in one of the largest cases of its type.
The fraud was so bad that people living in Derwentside, County Durham, where the main players behind the scam were based, had to pay up to £100 extra for their car insurance.
Police uncovered the scale of the fraud while investigating the activities of members of the Wright family, from Burnhope, who came to national prominence in 2009 when two local streets they had named after themselves were changed by officers in a bid to bolster public confidence.
Concerns over local organised crime led to a major investigation, named Operation Nacho, assisted by the Insurance Fraud Bureau and other agencies.
They looked at 1,800 accidents handled by two particular firms and swiftly identified 261 which looked suspicious. Investigators suspected some were entirely fictitious, some staged and some vastly exaggerated.
They identified 25 accidents which were considered to have the highest impact on the public, both financially and in terms of suspected organised crime involvement, and these were selected for detailed investigation.
Those 25 accidents alone resulted in more than £514,000 being obtained for the claimants. The full figure estimated to have been made in the scam could be more than £3m.
A series of trials involving 70 defendants began last year at Newcastle Crown Court, with 60 people convicted or pleading guilty to being involved.
Seven were members of the Wright family – Paul Wright, Alan Wright, Joseph Wright, Andrew Piggford, Jonathan Wright, Joseph Anthony Wright and Robert Wright.
Key players included 40-year-old Paul Jonathon Wright, known as Jonty, of Fellside View, Burnhope, who ran PJ Autos, a recovery, storage and vehicle hire business at the centre of the fraud.
He is yet to be sentenced for his part in the scam which involved making false claims for storing damaged cars and hiring out replacement vehicles at up to £200 a day.
Also involved was his older brother Alan, 49, who lives in a caravan in Burnhope, who was jailed for four years after a trial last year. A police source described Alan Wright as the head of the family, and he was found to have had four fake crashes within just 10 months.
Joseph Wright, 57, who lives in a caravan in Burnhope, pleaded guilty to fraud and was given 18 months suspended for two years with a curfew.
Alan Wright’s son, Andrew Piggford, 24, of Carr House Mews, Consett, admitted fraud and was jailed for two years.
Jonathon Wright, 27, of Cobble Farm, Burnhope, admitted fraud and was jailed for 30 months.
Joseph Anthony Wright, 33, of A1, Consett, pleaded guilty to fraud and was jailed for 18 months. Robert Wright, 31, of Fellside, Burnhope, pleaded guilty to fraud and was jailed for nine months.
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