Mortgage News
Mortgage fraud raids, 4 arrested
City of London Police have confiscated documents and made a series of arrests across South East England, following an investigation into a £9m mortgage fraud against a “major insurance company”.
Fourty City of London Police officers were involved in the operation, culminating in the arrest of a 56-year-old, 46 year-old, 39 year-old and 31-year-old on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.
In coordinated searches last week, six teams entered four houses, the business unit of a gaming company and a solicitor’s office, in North West London, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes and Northampton.
Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Head, said the size of the police operation was evidence of the scale of this suspected fraud. “It is not just the lenders that are being hit by the fraudsters.
Individuals are losing millions of pounds through a range of mortgage frauds, with much of this money going into the coffers of criminal networks.”
Head revealed that there were a number of significant ongoing investigations, adding that he anticipated many more cases in the near future as lenders continued to scrutinise their finances.
Episode 5: Larger Loans and Complex Lending: Powered by Partnership podcast from Newcastle for Intermediaries
Sponsored by Newcastle for Intermediaries
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) expressed its support for the actions being taken by City of London Police to combat mortgage fraud.
A spokesperson said: “The SRA works closely with police and other law enforcement organisations to tackle mortgage fraud. Since the start of 2009, the SRA has stepped up its work in relation to mortgage fraud, both through advice and warnings to the profession, and by increasing its detection and investigation resources to prevent, deter and tackle fraud.”