Gang jailed for £8m mortgage fraud

1 March 2010 4:37 pm | By Leah Milner

Judge Bellows today handed prison sentences of five years to Khawar Khan (pictured), four years each to Imran and Nadeem Mirza and two years to Farhan Khan.

All had pleaded guilty to numerous fraud-related offences in December 2009.

The court had previously heard how the criminal gang identified properties across the South-East to use for false mortgage applications without ever approaching the owners.

At the same time Essex-based Montague Mason Solicitors submitted false paperwork in connection with 33 fraudulent mortgage applications.

Once the deals were signed-off and the funds transferred, the fraudsters quickly dispersed the stolen money from the solicitor’s accounts into a network of many hundreds of false bank accounts, controlled by the gang.

However, it was these details that would lead the City of London Police to the defendants and the home of Imran Mirza, 31 and Nadeem Mirza, 26, in Ilford, Essex.

The investigation began in March 2009 after Abbey and HBOS asked the City of London Police to look into the activities of Montague Mason Solicitors.

Working in collaboration with the two banks, investigators uncovered an extensive criminal network that led them to executing search warrants at addresses across the UK in June 2009.

When officers attempted to gain access to his house, Imran Mirza threw a bag of credit cards out of a bedroom window. He was arrested along with his brother Nadeem, and £67,000 was found in the house.

During the search Farhan Khan arrived and, when found in possession of false credit cards was arrested. A search of his house found false ID document directly linked to the mortgage fraud.

A warrant executed at an office in Nottingham led to the seizure of gold ingots and business records, including spreadsheets detailing the hundreds of fraudulently opened bank accounts.

Khawar Khan was identified as the owner of the office and a key player in this fraud and was traced by investigators to a house in Barking where he was arrested and false credit cards, chequebooks, UK and Pakistani passports and driving licenses taken from the house.

City of London Police head of the economic crime directorat detective chief superintendent Steve Head says: “The case highlights how organised criminal gangs are targeting mortgage fraud, viewing it as a means to make easy money.   

“Mortgage fraud is causing real damage to the UK economy and as the National Lead Force for fraud we are proactively going after the people who orchestrate and commit this crime.

“In the past two years we have taken on 18 new major investigations and are working very closely with the banks to ensure people can have faith in the integrity of the mortgage systems.”

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