SFO makes 6 arrests in £12m commercial fraud

Tuesday 8th December 2009

The warnings that commercial fraud and advance fee fraud are on the rise have been repeated numerous times throughout the year, and now it looks like the crackdown has finally begun with the Serious Fraud Office making six arrests last week.

The SFO reportedly raided nineteen properties in London, Surrey, Cheshire and Derbyshire, swooping on six international traders thought to be involved in a £12 million commercial loans scam.

Three of the men have appeared in City of London Magistrates Court charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences.

Whilst 54 year-old David Martin Layard Horsfall was bailed, Edward Davenport, 43, and Martin Peter Riley, 62, have been remanded in custody. They will all return to court to enter a plea in February.

Under the company name of Gresham Ltd and Gresham Finance (London), the traders have been accused of taking up to £50,000 in advanced fees for large commercial loans, which never materialised.

Targeted at overseas developers, and promoted through online, newspaper and magazine advertising, the group received most of its loan applications from countries such as Austria and Turkey where funding was needed to build hotels and resorts.

The SFO has added that Dublin-based company, Gresham Finance Ltd and Castlereagh Ltd, are unconnected with the alleged fraud.