According to the Times, William Davenport admitted three charges of fraud and six charges of forging documents in the purchasing of Windlestone Hall near Rushyford, County Durham, which is the former childhood home of the 1950s Conservative leader Sir Anthony Eden.
It is reported that Davenport paid Durham county council £241,000 for the property in 2012, before putting it on the property market for more than £2m just two years later. A police investigation which revealed a series of frauds using false identities, was prompted after a mortgage clerk noticed a discrepancy in a forged P60 document.
Teeside crown court was told that Davenport fraudulently took a mortgage of £500,000 for the property by claiming to earn £430,000 year by being the head of a Beverly Hills company. He was granted the mortgage on the understanding he would renovate the property, which had fallen into disrepair.
The prosecution revealed that in reality Davenport was actually broke and claiming disability allowance under the name of William Carrington. His wife and daughter are understood to be in hiding in the US as they are believed to have been complicit in the scam.
During the investigation a series of other deceptions were revealed, with the fraudulent mortgage applications hitting a total of £2.9m. The final two were discovered before they were paid out.
