After using a fake name to apply for a mortgage on a property that was not for sale and did not belong to him, a fraudster has been sent to prison for two and a half years.

Ricardo Paul Morgan, 33, tried to steal £400,000 when applying for a mortgage on a Harrow property valued at over £550,000, according to the Harrow Observer.

Morgan’s female accomplice posed as the property’s owner, the title reported, so that he could obtain funds from mortgage brokers Bristol and West using a false ID, in which he assumed the alias Paul Simpson. 

The fraud was revealed when Morgan’s female partner attempted to transfer the cash to India.

At Harrow Crown Court, Morgan - who is already serving a prison term for a tax benefit scam which is due to end in February 2012 - denied fraud by false representation. 

He will serve his two a half year sentence for this crime consecutively.

The Harrow Observer reported Judge Graham Aaron’s comments during the case: “If you really cared about your family you would have admitted your guilt and may well be out of jail by now. You seem selfish in considering your family.

“By the nature of the fraud it was clearly well planned and you knew you were under investigation, so I will treat it as a level two fraud.”

After the sentencing, DC Shazee Shah, of the Met’s Financial Investigation Unit, said: “Ricardo Morgan has shown no remorse for his actions. He thought he would be immune to prosecution by using false names and numerous false documents as a smoke screen. This only led to his undoing and the demise of his criminal empire.”