Paul Bradwell, 53, was arrested and could have gone to prison after he was unwittingly conned by two property buyers who committed mortgage frauds, reported Darlington & Stockton Times.

After 18 months of uncertainty, in which he was on trial of conspiracy to commit fraud with three other people, Mr Bradwell’s nightmare was finally brought to an end at Teeside Crown Court after a three-week trial.

The allegations threatened to bring an end to a 30-year career as a mortgage broker and financial advisor.

He said: “Relieved is not the word. I was elated. I openly cried, and it is a long time since I’ve done that. It was just so much relief. I just want to forget about it and move on with my life.

“It knocked it out of me because I knew I had done nothing wrong.”

Jason Omar, 42, and Angelique Huggett, 45, built up a property portfolio said to be worth £2.5 million after feeding Mr Bradwell false information for mortgage application forms.

They lied about how much they earned and got loans for more than the houses were worth, pocketing the difference which was said to be in the region of £250,000.

Mr Bradwell maintained throughout the trial he had no reason to doubt what Omar and Huggett told him, and insisted he did nothing wrong.

He was approached by Omar for help to obtain mortgages in 2004, and Omar eventually introduced Mr Bradwell to Huggett.

The trial focused on properties fraudulently obtained by the pair using mortgages and remortgages between 2007 and 2008.
The court heard they bought some properties with bridging loans, immediately followed by a remortgage, in a process known as “flipping”.

That breached mortgage rules at the time, as a remortgage could only be obtained if the property had been owned for more than six months.

Mr Bradwell, a married father-of-three, added: “I had no way of verifying the information I was being given. I thought he was remortgaging properties, and what I found out was he didn’t even own them. I have to go on trust with what everybody tells me.”

He said he felt unable to work as long as the allegations were hanging over him which put pressure on his marriage to wife Andrea, 49, but the pair have come through the ordeal strongly: “The last 18 months have been hell.”

Mr Bradwell, of Meadowgate Drive, Hartepool, is now questioning whether to continue with his career and fears there are no safeguards in place to prevent it happening again.

He said: “Everything I’ve done and the way I have done it is right. There’s nothing really we could have changed. It has made me think who is here to safeguard me?”

Omar, of Church Lane, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and will be sentenced in the week starting 22nd April.

Huggett, of Dishforth Close, Thornaby, pleaded guilty to the same charge and will be sentenced at the same time.

Solicitor Desmond McCarthy, 69, accused of being part of the conspiracy, was found not guilty during the trial on the directions of the judge.