Dangerous ‘Crash for Cash’ fraudster sentenced after deliberately causing motorway collision

A man from Bolton has been sentenced for Dangerous Driving and Fraud by False Representation after deliberately causing a collision between three vehicles on the M62, and then attempting to claim for the vehicle damage through the third party’s insurer, AXA. 

Ejiofor Jovita Chijoke, also known as Ejiofor Chijoke Jovita, 37, of Blackburn Road, Bolton, was sentenced on Wednesday 5 May 2021 at Manchester Crown Court as follows:

• 18-month community order, with the requirement to complete 150 hours of unpaid work; and
• 12-months disqualification from driving, with the requirement to complete an extended retest.

Detective Constable Haywood, of the City of London’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said:

“This case is a prime example of how ‘Crash for Cash’ fraudsters have no consideration for the safety of the innocent road users that they target. Fortunately in this case, the drivers walked away unscathed and with just the burden of damaged vehicles. However, it is far too easy to imagine how perilous the collision could have been, and this would have been entirely down to Chijoke’s selfishness and greed. Thank you to the victims and witnesses who assisted the investigation.”

A driver of a Renault van was travelling on the M62 motorway in March 2017, with another driver, in a 44 tonne truck, behind him. The driver of the van noticed Chijoke’s erratic driving ahead of him, as he darted his Mercedes from lane to lane. Chijoke finally pulled across two lanes and breaked suddenly in front of the Renault van, causing the driver to also come to a halt. Whilst the Renault driver was able to narrowly avoid Chijoke’s Mercedes, the truck behind could not stop so quickly, resulting in a domino-effect collision between the three vehicles.

 

 

All three drivers exchanged details at the scene, with Chijoke providing an address in Bristol as his residence, despite him living in Oldham at the time.

Two weeks after the accident had occurred, AXA received a claim for whiplash from Chijoke, which stated that the Renault driver had ploughed into the rear of his vehicle. A report was also presented to AXA for the damage to the vehicle, deeming the Mercedes to be beyond economic repair and estimating it to be worth £5,900.

The drivers of the van and the truck claimed that Chijoke had deliberately caused the collision, asserting that he slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason. The truck was fitted with a dash cam, which captured Chijoke’s dangerous driving ahead of the crash and substantiated the allegations that the accident was intentional. Upon receiving a copy of this footage, Chijoke’s solicitors withdrew his claim.

The case was then referred by AXA to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) for further investigation. Upon his arrest, Chijoke provided a number of false addresses as his place of residence in order to prevent officers from searching his home. Eventually, he provided the correct address for a property in Oldham.

Chijoke was interviewed by IFED officers and shown the dash cam footage of the events leading up to the collision. Throughout questioning, Chijoke maintained that his erratic driving was due to a fault with the vehicle and that he had not intended to cause the crash. However, once at court he pleaded guilty to all offences.