NINE members of a family who were prepared to fake car crashes and the resulting serious injuries were yesterday found guilty of conspiracy to steal £3million.

Mohammed Sharif, 57, his children and relatives, were trapped after six years of large scale fraud by a police inquiry code name Operation Ocarina.

One of the detectives involved in the investigation, Detective Sergeant Graham Herrmann, said: "They became so greedy they were prepared to act out injury, illness and serious incapacity to get their hands on money. It has been a remarkable charade for them to maintain without cracking."

At Preston Crown Court a jury found the family guilty of conspiracy to defraud state benefits, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and insurance companies of £3 million.

They had claimed more than £550,000 from insurers as a result of stage managed crashes they faked in Preston and Blackburn.

The jury returned their verdicts after six hours. It follows a six week trial before Mrs Justice Heather Steel.

The jury had heard how £1.75 million had been claimed from the Criminal Injuries Board on behalf of Sharif's 28-year-old son Zulfiqar who they said had been completely disabled as a result of a street attack in Blackburn 1985 - when in fact he was fit and well.

The rest of the money was spread between illicit claims for housing benefit, disabled living allowance, incapacity benefit and income support.

On the one hand they appeared to be the unluckiest family in Britain - tainted with tragedy. On the other - in reality - they were perfectly normal, educated, running profitable businesses seven days a week and enjoying family trips out and family celebrations.

The family is headed by Mohammed Sharif, 57, of Snow Street, Blackburn. His sons are Zulfiqar Sharif, 28, of Ribbleton Lane, Preston; Arif Sharif, 27, of Snow Street, Blackburn; Abid Sharif, 21, of Eldon Street, Preston; daughters Razia Ahmed, 24, of Ribbleton Lane, Preston; Parveen Sharif, 30, of Nimes Street, Preston; Yasmin Sarwar, 24, of Eldon Street, Preston; sons in law Abdul Raschid 31, of Ribbleton Lane, Preston and Mohammed Ramzan, 36, of Whalley Range, Blackburn. All are in custody.

The jury are still considering their verdict on the tenth member of the family, Sian Ahmed, 43, of Snow Street, Blackburn. The judge had told the court that she intends to sentence the family at a later date. The family that set up Britain's most lucrative 'fraud factory' - and attempted to rake in £3million - went to amazing lengths to get the money.

Two members pretended to be wheelchair-bound for four years, and in a vegetative mental state, to get their hands on cash - despite being fit and well.

Others staged road accidents, diving onto the bonnets of cars driven by relatives.

What began with a genuine road accident and a street attack on a teenage boy was turned into a cash rollercoaster - which milked the benefits system alone of £1,675 a week - run by a 57-year-old father, his sons and daughters over six years.

It ended after a six-week trial which has cost £2.75 million - £14,500 of which went on defence demands for interpreters.

One son even pretended to be 'a living vegetable' from the age of 16, in a bid to get £1.6 million from the Criminal Injuries Board - a record board pay out.

The Sharif family owns 13 properties in Blackburn and Preston, and two general stores.

The family's own videos proved their undoing. They acted disabled and pretended not to understand only when faced with authorities like the police, the courts, the DSS and insurance companies.

One daughter Razia was - it was claimed - also in a vegetative state after being run down by her own father.

She claimed £450,000 compensation.

However, she went on to have and look after four healthy children.

Razia's elder brother Zulfiqar was the victim of a street attack when he was 15. He recovered but his family decided to cash in on the incident. He began to act as if his life had been ruined by the assault.

'Incontinence' forced him to have to wear nappies and he could barely speak. His family maintained he could see nothing further than four inches from his face and compiled a claim for £1.75 million from the compensation board.

In the dock he was always stooped, his head moving constantly from side-to-side.

But home video footage showed Zulfiqar driving a car, using a multi-gym, laughing and smiling.

The Sharif family moved to Blackburn back in 1964. Mohammed and his wife had five children in Pakistan and a further eight in England.

One son, Arif also claimed to be mentally subnormal. Yet he manages a successful retail business Arif Superstore. The family's defence was based on mistaken identities.

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