MortgagesAug 21 2017

Man jailed after alerting police to own mortgage fraud

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Man jailed after alerting police to own mortgage fraud

A man who defrauded a property company and a mortgage lender out of more than £1.25m has been jailed for nearly six years.

Abid Hussain, 40, of Kilburn, north-west London, contacted police in May 2016 to report that a property he owned in North Acton had been sold without his knowledge or permission for £480,000.

But an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s complex fraud squad revealed Hussain himself had sold the property through an apparently legitimate process, and that the funds he received were from the company buying the premises.

Hussain also told police more than £770,000 had been paid into his current account apparently from the re-mortgage of another property he owned.

He denied making the mortgage application and said the account into which the proceeds of the sale were deposited did not belong to him, even though his name was on the account.

But it was established that Hussain had made the re-mortgage application himself, with CCTV evidence showing him entering the offices of a central London solicitors to complete the application.

He was also caught on CCTV using some of the money - £438,000 - to purchase 15kg of gold bullion.

Detective constable Richard Kirk of the Metropolitan Police’s Complex Fraud Squad, who led the investigation, said: "A swift investigation has ensured that Hussain will now have time to reflect on what he has done in prison. 

“Evidence showed that Hussain had meticulously planned these frauds for some time. We are pleased to see he has received a custodial sentence that reflects the seriousness of his offences."

Hussain contacted police and provided a false witness statement. By reporting the transactions as fraudulent, he aimed to make them void, leaving the property company and mortgage lender out of pocket.

Hussain travelled to Pakistan in the days after purchasing the bullion and is believed to have taken it with him.

Enquiries to establish what happened to the bullion and what he bought it for are ongoing. 

Hussain was arrested in June 2016 and charged in August 2016.

The funds were returned to the mortgage company and police are now conducting an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) to recover all the proceeds of the frauds committed by Hussain.

On Monday, 14 August, Hussain was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of two counts of fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He was sentenced to five years and nine months’ imprisonment at the same court on Friday, 18 August.

simon.allin@ft.com