A 56-year-old, 46 year-old, 39 year-old and 31-year-old were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud after searches in four houses, the business unit of a gaming company and a solicitor’s office.

The operation covered North West London, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes and Northampton.

Steve Head, detective chief superintendent of the City of London Police, said it had seen a sharp increase in reported cases of mortgage fraud in the past eighteen months.

He added: “Typically a criminal gang, often including surveyors and solicitors, use false valuations and tenancy agreements to persuade lenders to provide loans far exceeding the worth of their properties.”

Head added that he anticipated many more cases being referred to the police in the near future as lenders and borrowers continued to scrutinise their finances.

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He commented “Individuals are losing millions and millions of pounds through a range of mortgage frauds, with much of this money being paid into the coffers of criminal networks. We have a number of significant investigations ongoing.”