Five people were sentenced this week for their parts in what is thought to be the largest mortgage fraud ever investigated in England and Wales.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the £50 million fraud was very complex, involving more than 1,000 fraudulent mortgage applications, and a range of mechanisms, including false property valuations and submission of fraudulent paperwork relating to rental incomes and deposits. In many of the cases, the property against which the mortgages were secured simply did not exist.
The five conspirators, all from North Wales, included former police officer Antony Lowry-Huws, his wife Susan Margaret Lowry-Huws, and his business partner Sheila Rose Whalley. A solicitor, Nicholas John Jones, and surveyor Frank Edward Darlington were also involved.
Each was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud in relation to 189 fraudulent mortgage applications made between May 2003 and June 2008. This was, says the CPS, a representative sample from the over 1,000 applications made.
They were sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison, with the longest custodial sentence - seven years - being handed down to Antony Lowry-Huws, the apparent ringleader.
Fraud is treated very seriously by the authorities, who are clamping down on all aspects of financial crime, and frequently make use of investigative techniques such as dawn raids or search and seizure.
If you find yourself subject to a fraud investigation, we can help.
Contact Lewis Nedas’ Criminal Lawyers in London
For specialist legal advice from our fraud lawyers, call Jeffrey Lewis or Siobhain Egan on 020 7387 2032 or complete our online enquiry form here.
This blog post is intended as a news item only - no connection between Lewis Nedas and the parties concerned is intended or implied
