Two mortgage brokers recently jailed after admitting conspiracy to defraud are to have assets worth £72,000 seized to avoid further imprisonment and to reduce their sentences.
Matthew Booth, 36, of Thyme Grove and Grant Ratcliffe, 35, of Durham Drive in Stoke-on-Trent both admitted fraud in April earlier this year. Booth was jailed for 11 months and Ratcliff for 10 months.
According to local paper, This is Staffordshire, the court heard how the pair carried out the frauds through Mr Booth’s brokerage, MB Mortgages Services in Hartsill. The pair would alter mortgage applications by inflating the incomes of those taking out the loans.
Prosecutor Nicholas Smith said: "MB Mortgage Services Ltd contacted nine purchasers, took their details and asked them to sign documentation.
"The purchasers would sign mortgage applications which were partly blank. They had no real idea what they were signing.
"The application forms were then altered. The income of the applicant was grossly inflated in some cases. One female applicant earned just over £11,000 but on the form it said her annual salary was £45,000.
"Employment details were also enhanced and signatures were forged in some cases. The fact the deposits and legal fees were paid for by the builders was also concealed.
"Booth and Ratcliffe misled Preferred Mortgages but in the end they didn't gain anything because they didn't get the £14,000 commission."
As a result some clients had their properties sold or repossessed.
Hugh McKee, defending Mr Booth, argued that he had earned £120,000 in 2005 and that didn’t need to get involved in this type of criminal activity and should not have got involved.
He said: "He has gained nothing from this. He has lost thousands of pounds' commission through it."
David Bentley, defending Mr Ratcliffe, told the court his client was deeply ashamed of his actions. He said: "He is a man of intelligence who was a hard-working individual. He also gained nothing from this and lost almost £5,000 in commission."
Both men stood to make thousands of pounds in commission through the nine fraudulent mortgages they put through. Now they must pay the court orders with the money they have tied up in properties.
Nicholas Smith, prosecuting, said: "There were nine mortgages and the total benefit in commission would have been £31,000, but they were sentenced on the basis they did not see a penny of that.
"They accept the nine but there were considerably more, and while they weren't criminal it is the case that because of the time, they could not be investigated."
Once processed through Mr Booth’s brokerage, MB Mortgage Services, the applications were passed on to mortgage company, Preferred Mortgages which has now gone into administration.
However, it still remains unclear as to whether Mr Ratcliff was employed by Mr Booth or was an equal partner in the firm.
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "Mr Ratcliffe was self-employed in partnership with Mr Booth. I make a confiscation order in the case of Mr Booth for £55,000 and in default of payment he will serve 15 months. Mr Ratcliffe's confiscation order is for £17,379 and in default of payment he will serve nine months."
The total being seized under the Proceeds of Crime legislation is £72,379.
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