Brokers cleared of £3.5m mortgage fraud

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Following a two-month case at London’s Southwark Crown Court, jurors took just five hours to return not guilty verdicts for six men and a woman who had been accused of taking part in a £3.5 million mortgage fraud that recently hit headlines.

Three mortgage brokers, a solicitor, a chartered accountant and two brothers were all cleared of any involvement with the fraud, which reportedly centred on turning struggling home buyers into seemingly wealthy property investors.

It was also believed that a large building company had apparently aided the scam in giving false valuations.

However, all the defendants on trial claimed they had done nothing wrong, one even said he had no involvement in the fraud whatsoever.

Essex mortgage brokers, 43 year-old George Sourou and 44 year-old Brad Fisher, and broker Sofiyah Ahmed from east London all denied any wrongdoing. Miss Ahmed added that she had always “worked within the rules”.

Another defendant, 39 year-old Mohammed Barrie from Kent, had been accused of signing up purchasers for the flats. He told the court that he had no knowledge of the fraud, believing he was only involved in a set of “legal transactions”.

His brother, 29 year-old Muctaru Barrie, added that the allegations were “completely without substance”.

Chartered accountant Dean Dairo and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu also claimed they were unaware that anything untoward was taking place.

Several of the accused burst into tears when the not guilty verdict was delivered.

 

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