A gang of seven people who colluded to con mortgage lenders out of almost £5 million in mortgage fraud received a jail sentence for a total of eleven years.
The two ‘common’ elements in the fake mortgage applications were 55 year old mortgage advisor David Carter, of Network Financial Services in Rotherham, and 51 year old accountant John Wright. Wright compiled fake accounts for Carter to use in fake mortgage applications.
Five other defendants, one of which was ex-Rotherham United director David Costin, were able to receive fraudulent mortgages for properties in Rotherham.
The five week trial took place in March and Carter was found guilty of six counts of obtaining mortgages by deception. He was given three years’ imprisonment. Wright was found guilty of seven counts and was also sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
Of the other five defendants, three pleaded guilty. Four received jail sentences from nine months to two years. One was spared immediate jail and given a suspended sentence and 160 hours’ unpaid work, as he had already repaid all the money and had borrowed the least amount at £30,000.
Only two of the defendants cases resulted in the mortgage lenders suffering a loss; in one case the loss amounted to between £15,000 and £20,000 and in the other between £50,000 and £100,000.
A spokesperson from the money laundering unit with South Yorkshire Police, DC Nina Kitchener, stated:
“This has been a lengthy and complex three year financial investigation. The sentencing is appropriate to the criminality involved and these individuals are now subject to confiscation proceedings, where their benefits from crime will be valued by the court and will be required to be repaid.”
