Marlon Hibbert, 38, of Butterfield Hall Farm in Bolton, was found guilty of 15 mortgage fraud and money laundering offences at Bolton Crown Court, the Bolton News reports.
The fraud involved 11 mortgage applications made between 2006 and 2008 which allowed Hibbert to buy properties valued at £3.1m. In reality Hibbert’s income during this period was only around £8,000. After he was unable to keep up with repayments lenders began to repossess the properties. Hibbert still owes approximately £100,000.
During the trial, the defendant tried to blame mortgage intermediaries for his deception.
Defending him in court, Christopher Diamond said the crimes were not very sophisticated. “They were quite crudely committed at a time when credit was more easily available,” he said. “The defendant appears to have been influenced by others and fallen in with the wrong crowd.”
Diamond described Hibbert as naïve, like many others, because he did not see the property crash coming. He also described him as illiterate and said he had been ‘dazzled by the bright lights’. He said it was not the defendant’s intention that anyone else should suffer any losses.
His barrister told the judge that the crimes had led Hibbert to suffer from anxiety and depression.
The defendant’s prior business venture was operating booze cruises in Greece and Spain before deciding to enter the property market in 2006.
Judge Graeme Smith, who sentenced Hibbert to four-and-a-half years in prison, described his background as being ‘from rags to riches’.
