Mortgage News
West One settles case with defrauded investor
Bridging lender West One Loans has agreed a settlement figure with an investor who sued the firm for failing to obtain security for his loan.
On 1st February 2013 short-term lender and defendant West One Loans agreed to settle the longstanding claim with Nick Clarke, owner of Salkeld Investments, after he brought a legal claim action against the lender for lending his £235,000 investment to a fraudster and failing to gain security for the loan.
The settlement amount remains undisclosed. However, the investor’s law firm Mishcon de Reya, has confirmed it sought the return of the £235,000 cash, the “contractually agreed” interest and court costs.
West One Loans CEO Mark Abrahams, (pictured) said: “Salkeld Investments Limited and West One Loans Limited have reached an agreement dated 1 February 2013 whereby the Parties have resolved the dispute between them to their mutual satisfaction.”
The case, originally exclusively reported by Mortgage Solutions
centred on entrepreneur and investor Nick Clarke’s claim that West One Loans acted in breach of contract by failing to obtain security on a £950,000 Fulham property before inadvertently lending Clarke’s money to a fraudster.
After Clarke was introduced to West One in April 2011, the fraud was uncovered some time later by HM Land Registry, which spotted a signature did not match its previous records.
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The fraudster, who secured a bridging loan for a higher amount of £570,000 from West One after falsely claiming to be Massimo Barbini, the registered owner of 88 Gowan Avenue, has never been caught.
Short-term lender and defendant, West One, had previously denied all allegations, claiming that the agreement with the investor included an exclusion clause absolving them of liability in such circumstances.
The investor Clarke argued the defendant owed him a ‘duty of care’ including obtaining valid security for the loan and the true identity and address of the borrower.
West One confirmed to Mortgage Solutions in November last year that 11 investors were “anxious to get their capital back but were satisfied their funds would be returned.”
At the time, Abrahams said: “West One Loans has made in excess of 530 loans and lent more than £170m. We have over 180 private investors who have formed a strong on-going relationship with West One Loans over the years.”