Justice catches up with Enterprise car scam fugitive after eight years on the run

A man who moved to the US after making big money from a car scam has been sentenced. Jonathan Riches made hundreds of thousands of pounds by stealing personal details of drivers who had been in accidents and selling them to ambulance-chasing lawyers.

He was at the top of a conspiracy to unlawfully access data from a leading car rental company and pass it to solicitors who would pursue personal injury claims. But justice has finally caught up with him after an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office.

Riches, 46, previously of Porthcawl, and now liviing in the US, pleaded guilty to an offence under section 55 of the Data protection Act 1998 at Cardiff Crown Court. The court heard Riches had illegally accessed motorists’ details from Enterprise Rent-A-Car and who would pursue personal injury claims for financial gain.

Her Honour Judge Francis handed down the sentence to Mr Riches of a fine of £10,000, plus costs of £1,700. The Judge ruled that this must be paid within 12 months, or will default to a custodial sentence of nine months.

The offences were committed between 2009 and 2011. Mr Riches had previously been an employee of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, then left in 2009 to set up his own personal injury firm. He was still in contact with former colleagues, and through this would illegally obtain the details of those involved in road traffic accidents then contact them offering legal services. At one point, Mr Riches, through his accomplices, had access to the internal Enterprise database allowing him to access the personal details of clients.

In a statement, the ICO said: "He had previously been ordered to pay Enterprise Rent-A-Car a £300,000 civil settlement, then was interviewed by the criminal