Stafford man jailed over mortgage scam

A Staffordshire man has been jailed and and woman from the West Midlands handed a community order for their involvement in a £500,000 mortgage scam.

Between March 2009 and September 2009, 45 year old Carl Hughes of Poole Lane, Brocton used false payslips and bank statements in two separate remortgage applications.

In the first application he claimed to be earning £150,000 per annum as a director of one of his companies, Lincolnshire Property Investment Fund Ltd.

However, discrepancies were discovered in his documents, which had been ordered online by his assistant Gaynor Grundy, and the mortgage company established that Hughes was disqualified from being a director due to a previous investigation into the accounting practices of his companies.

Having failed to secure a remortgage in his name, Hughes began a second application in the name of his estranged wife, without her knowledge, again using false documents ordered online by Grundy.

Enquiries revealed that all of the supporting documentation for both applications were false and bore little or no resemblance to the true financial status of either applicant.

Both Hughes and Grundy were arrested following a lengthy inquiry by Staffordshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit.

They were sentenced at Stafford Crown Court Thursday 5 July, after pleading guilty to fraud offences at two previous hearings. Hughes, was jailed for 30 months after admitting two offences of fraud by false representation.

64 year old Grundy, of Longfellow Drive, Dudley, received a 12 month community order and was ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work after admitting two offences of making articles for use in fraud.

DC Mark Kelsall, from the Economic Crime Unit, said: "Staffordshire Police treats such fraud extremely seriously and Economic Crime Unit officers worked closely with the mortgage company and Mr Hughes bank as part of the thorough and protracted inquiries which led to today’s outcome at court.

"Financial crime affects everyone – whether directly or indirectly. These sentences send out a clear message that we will investigate anyone involved in such activity and bring them to justice.”

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