Anthony Cooke was jailed for 30 weeks after being found to have committed an act against public justice by the Isle of Man’s Court of Justice.
Cooke had obtained three valuations for the property in Aspen Drive, Ballawattleworth from estate agents, with the intention of buying out his ex-wife’s share.
The valuations ranged between £340,000 and £350,000, but in each case he edited the emails to lower the valuation by around £5,000, to a price which he could afford.
Cooke then relied on these valuations in sworn evidence.
However, his ex-wife rejected the buy-out and the judge ruled that the property should be sold on the open market. When Cooke’s wife requested copies of the original valuation emails from the estate agents involved, Cooke’s tampering became clear.
Cooke was reported to police, and pleaded guilty to the offence.
Cooke currently works as head of compliance at Creechurch Capital, an investment manager on the island, though his defence lawyers suggested that the offence meant his career in financial services was potentially over.
Judge Richard Parkes QC, who adjudicated over the case, said that Cooke’s actions had “struck at the heart of the administration of justice”, and as such a custodial sentence was “unavoidable”.
