A man who masterminded a nationwide scam to help drivers escape motoring convictions has been jailed for seven years.
Colin Lowndes, 41, helped more than 700 motorists across the country avoid penalty points for speeding offences and other driving matters such as using a mobile phone while driving.
Offenders would pay him up to £400 and hand over their notices of intended prosecution (NIP). Lowndes would then submit false nominations using bogus names from 11 addresses linked to him.
This would generate further notices to the "driver" and the process would be repeated until the legal timeframe to prosecute had expired, Greater Manchester Police said.
Lowndes, of Clough End Road, Hattersley, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court yesterday after admitting conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and 30 counts of fraud relating to a separate scam.
The prominence of the addresses he used raised suspicion at ticket offices across the country and led to raids last May.
Hundreds of NIP documents from police forces around the country, cash, blank envelopes and other items related to the operation were recovered.
Officers investigating the scam discovered that 728 offences were detected across 26 police forces between August 2006 and April 2010.
Lowndes and his accomplice, brother-in-law Lee Foster, made more than 1,000 false nominations in relation to these offences, allowing the motorists to avoid prosecution for various offences.
Lowndes even submitted a false nomination when sent an NIP after a Saab 95 registered to him was caught speeding in October 2009, police said.
As part of the wider investigation into the scam, more than 250 motorists who supplied their NIPs to Lowndes and Foster were arrested. Some of those have been convicted and received custodial sentences.
Foster, 40, of Backbower Lane, Hyde, was convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice following a trial and was jailed yesterday for 18 months. A total of more than 500 of the bogus nominations were sent to his home.
During the investigation officers from the Specialist Operations Branch found Lowndes was involved in credit card fraud and even carried out fraudulent transactions while on bail.
It is estimated he bought several hundred sets of compromised credit card data.
He used some of the data to book numerous foreign holidays for himself, family and friends.
Lowndes also had a taste for luxury cars which he revelled in cruising around the streets of Greater Manchester.
Sergeant Mark Beales said: "Lowndes, with the help of his brother-in-law, ran an astonishing criminal enterprise that sought to make a mockery of road traffic laws and undermined the criminal justice system.
"He was simultaneously buying compromised credit card details that helped him live the kind of lifestyle many can only dream about and is a conman of considerable experience and expertise.
"The fact he has never sought a day's employment over recent years reflects a level of arrogance that suggests he thought he could continue to take from others for his own benefit without any repercussions. We were able to stop him in his tracks and I am pleased both men have been jailed.
"While we went after the conspirators of this scam, we identified those who thought they could escape a motoring conviction, some of who have now ended up with a criminal conviction instead.
"This case should send a clear message to motorists that providing false information is a very serious matter and we will take positive action against those involved."