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Four found guilty of £1m mortgage fraud

by: Mortgage Solutions
  • 10/05/2011
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Four found guilty of £1m mortgage fraud
Four West Yorkshire men and women have been given suspended sentences and community orders for mortgage frauds worth more than £1m.

Anthony Nixon, Samantha Nixon and Mark Spencer, all of Leeds, and Karen Jackson of Rothwell, appeared before Leeds Crown Court on 6 May.

Both Nixons pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain money transfers by deception and money laundering offences.

Spencer and Jackson were also found guilty of conspiring to obtain a money transfer by deception.

All of the fraudsters, except Jackson, were given 12 months suspended sentence for two years and up to 200 hours of community work.

Jackson was given a community order for 18 months and 150 hours unpaid work.

A fifth man, Ronald Ripley of Normanton, also pleaded guilty to money laundering offences in connection with the investigation and is due to be sentenced at a later date.

In 2006, the West Yorkshire police started to look at the lifestyle of the Nixons, including the purchase of substantial residential properties and buy-to-let properties in and around the Leeds area.

In 1999, Anthony Nixon bought a property in Morley for £160,000. The mortgage used to buy the house was found to be fraudulent and in 2004, the house was sold to Jackson at an overinflated price of £495,000.

Jackson obtained her funds to purchase the house by deception and was aided by Spencer, who was a mutual acquaintance of both the Nixons.

In December 2004, the Nixons bought a substantial family home at Midgley which they were able to purchase after selling the house in Morley at the overinflated price.

The house in Midgley was subsequently sold in March 2007 to an unconnected family for in excess of £950,000.

Officers found £85,000 in Ripley’s home in May 2007, which he was holding for Anthony Nixon. Both men pleaded guilty to concealing criminal property.

West Yorkshire Police has confirmed that confiscation proceedings have begun which could see cash and assets taken away from the defendants.

In a separate case, three men have been sentenced at Bradford Crown Court for their involvement in a £330,000 scheme to defraud Bradford & Bingley’s buy-to-let arm Mortgage Express, reported the Bradford Telegraph and Argus.

Asif Sharif, Mohammed Mahmood and Sheraz Riaz were found guilty by the judge.

Sharif, who was found to have cleared £144,000 through his bank account, was jailed for 12 months.

Riaz, who pleaded guilty, put £160,000 into his bank account, though £156,000 was recovered when the fraud came to light. He received a 12-month suspended sentence order, was ordered to do 100 hours’ unpaid work and to comply with a four-month curfew.

Mahmood, who paid £26,000 into his account, also pleaded guilty and was given a two year community order with 150 hours’ unpaid work and a four-month curfew order.

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