In a series of a conning incidents, a man from Blackburn, Lancashire was jailed for 6 months on Monday after duping a no-win-no fee solicitors' firm out of £1700 in a car insurance scam, the Daily Mail has reported.
Imran Shah, 39, who reportedly lied to lawyers, told them that he wanted representation as he had been in a car accident and was seeking considerable damages. In return for bringing them lucrative business, he persuaded the firm to pay him an up-front fee of £1,700.
Police investigated 17 other similar cases involving Shah, but the first 11 solicitors firms were unwilling to help with their investigation.
In one case mentioned at his trial, Shah is said to also have pretended to lawyers that he was a surgeon seeking a £500,000 damages payout.
The twelfth firm detectives approached agreed to help though, admitting Shah had duped them out of £1700 in a car insurance scam.
In an impact statement read to the court, the head of Parmar & Co Solicitors reportedly said: 'The defendant engaged with my firm over a period of time and deceived myself and my colleague into believing he was injured and we expended time and money seeing him.
'He obtained the money by deception on two separate occasions. He also used the firm as a conduit to complex fraud, damaging the reputation of my business.
'It was an embarrassment to me personally and my business. He was calculated, deceitful and remorseless.
'He wasted valuable time and money of my firm which could have been spent helping genuinely injured and innocent victims.'
At Preston Crown Court, university-educated Shah, who has allegedly used a number of false names - admitted fraud but escaped with six months jail as prosecutors stated that his crimes may be 'just the tip of the iceberg.'
