VIDEO evidence which led to the downfall of the family behind Britain's most lucrative 'fraud factory' will be shown on television tonight.

The case of the Sharif family, who tried to rake in £3 million over six years, will be the focus of a documentary on Channel Five.

Ten members of the family were found guilty of the fraud at Preston Crown Court four weeks ago, after a six-week trial. The court was told it was a systematic fraud factory run by a 57-year-old father and his sons and daughters.

They had conspired to defraud a combination of insurance companies, the DSS and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to the tune of £3 million.

Tonight, a special programme in the series 'Are You Being Cheated?' will look at how the family, who had properties in Blackburn and Preston, got away with the fraud for so long. And it will show some of the 300 hours of video evidence which proved that the 'injuries' they used to defraud the system were fake all along.

It was claimed one daughter, Razia, was in a permanent vegetative state after being run down by her own father in 1992.

She claimed £450,000 compensation, but went on to have and look after four healthy children - one of whom was born during the course of the trial. A massive compensation claim was also put in for Razia's elder brother Zulfiqar. He was injured in a street attack when he was 15, but his family decided to cash in on the incident.

To the outside world, he could hardly speak and incontinence forced him to wear nappies - but home video footage showed him driving a car, using a multigym, running, laughing and smiling.

Another son, Arif, claimed to be mentally subnormal, but ran a successful retail business.

Tonight's programme, presented by Will Daws, will include interviews with the investigators who spent years trying to track the fraudsters down.

It will be shown on Channel Five at 8pm.

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