'This conviction represents for you a significant fall from grace - of which you are acutely aware'

This is the car insurance worker who abused his position to divulge hundreds of customer private details to ‘claims farmers’.

Rizwan Manjra, 44, was employed by Markerstudy Insurance Services Limited (MISL), based in the Arndale Centre in Manchester city centre, leading a team that processed accident claims.

MISL reported that they suspected an employee at the company had been accessing its systems to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). It was later found that a number of the claims had been accessed by Manjra outside of work hours, at the weekend and on days when he had taken annual leave, Manchester Crown Court heard.

READ MORE:His dad wept outside the courtroom after he admitted what he'd done

Of the 185 claims which were flagged by insurers that MISL, Manjra had been involved with 160 of them. The high number of claims that were being processed which caught their eye, and this prompted an internal investigation, leading them to Manjra.

Out of those 160 claims, 147 were not even referred to Manjra's team. No proper reason could be found for him to have access to those claims, prosecutor Ellie Watson said.

The ICO became aware of the data breach, and Manjra attended an informal investigation meeting over the phone in which he claimed he sometimes accessed the systems on a Sunday evening to save time on a Monday morning. He suggested he had not shared the data without consent.

A disciplinary meeting was set up, but Manjra failed to attend and a warrant was issued. Investigators found two mobile phones and a laptop at his address in Bolton.

In one of the phones, Manjra had messaged a number titled: ‘Paddy Coco’ frequently, sending files including the names, vehicle registrations and information of individuals involved in road traffic collisions, the court heard.

In one response, ‘Paddy Coco’ said: “Keep them coming”.

The cost to the MISL could not be quantified, but they were forced to set up a team to deal with the complaints, of which there were 171 emails and 160 calls, the court heard.

“This was a deliberate act, with a high level of planning and sophistication over a lengthy period. Serious harm was caused with a significant number of victims,” Ms Watson added.

Mitigating, Hope Nelson said Manjra did not receive any money for supplying the data. “This was in exchange for debt owed by him to others,” she said.

“He was not the person supplying data to the firms or solicitor firms. He was a cog in a machine. He bitterly regrets the actions he took, he knows it was wrong.”

She said that at the time, before COVID, he began a house renovation which became unsustainable and left him in debt. He went to ‘those he shouldn’t have’ to borrow money and ended up owing much more.

She said there was ‘degree of pressure’ after threats were made to damage his property’.

Judge Patrick Field said the data was obtained for ‘nefarious purposes’.

“This conviction represents for you a significant fall from grace - of which you are acutely aware,” he added.

“There is a lot of technical language but what it boils down to is stealing information that belongs to other people. Information you are not entitled to have. This type of data you have no legitimate reason to access which you passed on to others who probably used it for the purposes of claims farming.

“In doing what you did, you have let yourself down, your family down, your former colleagues down and your employers too.”

Manjra, of Olstead Grove, Bolton, was handed six months imprisonment which was suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work. He previously pleaded guilty to unauthorised access to computer material. A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing was set for July 22.

Andy Curry, Acting ICO Director of Enforcement and Investigations, said in a statement: “Manjra abused the trust his employer placed in him, and sought to use their customers’ personal information for his own ends.

“We will take action to protect UK businesses and members of the public from threats to their personal information. Today’s outcome should send a strong deterrent message to others who may contemplate accessing information which they don’t have a right to look at.”