A property developer who “duped and used” a mortgage broker as part of a £1.5 million fraud could be jailed after he was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, reported the Darlington and Stockton Times.

Jason Omar, 41, was reported to have built up a buy-to-let portfolio worth £1.5 million after providing false details on a number of mortgage applications between January 2007 and October 2008, including embellishments regarding his income and lack of previous criminal convictions.

His co-accused, 53-year old mortgage broker Paul Bradwell, was cleared of the same charge, despite the Crown previously upholding that he had knowingly signed off documents containing false information.

The pair faced charges alongside conveyancing solicitor Desmond McCarthy, 69, and Angelique Huggett, 45, who is already serving an eight-year sentence for her part in a £2.32 million drug ring deal.

After admitting conspiracy to defraud, Hugget will be sentenced alongside Omar after allegedly buying £1 million worth of houses across Teesside.

Both Omar and Huggett were said to have been given help to “flip” properties – by remortgaging them before they owned them – with the use of bridging loans.

It was also alleged that the fraudsters had received loans which granted a far higher LTV than the value of their properties allowed for, and had subsequently pocketed the difference, earning about £250,000 in total.

The salaries which the pair claimed to earn were also vastly different to the amount which they had declared to the tax man.

Despite allegations that Bradwell had “circumvented” rules to help his clients out and neglected his duties to act as “safeguards” for the lenders he represented, the jury at Teesside Crown Court returned a not-guilty verdict on the mortgage broker.

Bradwell had maintained throughout questioning that he had been “duped and used” by Omar, despite indications that both he and McCarthy received payments of £300-£400 for each transaction they undertook for the fraudulent pair of developers.

Members of Bradwell’s family were seen to burst into tears and hug each other among audible cheers from the public gallery as the verdict was delivered by the jury foreman, before he was invited by Judge Howard Crowson to leave the dock and the court.

Turning to Omar, the presiding judge said he wanted a report made about the alleged fraudster from the probation service, urging the developer to co-operate in its preparation.

He said: “I have not decided what to do with you. I will decide that when I have heard everything that can be said on your behalf.”