Failed broker cheats lenders out of £2.2m

Failed broker cheats lenders out of £2.2m




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 Friday 13th proved unlucky for a broker who has been jailed for six years and three months after conning mortgage lenders out of millions.

The failed mortgage broker, Michael Robinson, who has never been licenced by the FSA despite working in the industry all his life, lead a criminal ring which fraudulently obtained loans secured against mortgage free high-value properties between 2007 and 2008, reported Money Marketing.

The gang stole the identities of homeowners to apply for mortgages on five properties in an attempt to receive £2.2 million from lenders. Robinson, the main assailant, then used an account at a bank in Peterlee, Country Durham, to launder the money, according to the Sunderland Echo. 

The scam became foiled after the fraudsters targeted a property belonging to French banker, Charles Badoy. The ring attempted to take out a mortgage for £525,000 with the Bank of Ireland, using Badoy’s own bank account to make the repayments, explained Money Marketing. The banker straight away noticed the payments leaving his account, exposing the fraudulent ring.

Michael Robinson, the ringleader who masqueraded as ‘Lord Robinson’, admitted to conspiracy to defraud, two counts of conspiracy to convert criminal property and two counts of fraud by false representation, reported the Sunderland Echo.

Money Marketing also detailed how Robinson’s eight other assailants all admitted to similar fraud offences, jailed for between 15 and 30 months for their respective parts in the scam.

Additionally reported by the Sunderland Echo, the Recorder at Teesside Crown Court, Michael Taylor, commented on Robinson’s part in the trial: “You had a Walter Mitty sort of existence. You purported to be a lord of the land. That was to try and impress people, to try and convince them and try and present yourself as different to what you really were, which is a crook.”

 

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