Four mortgage brokers are banned

A crackdown by the financial regulator on mortgage fraud has led to four more brokers being banned from operating.

Three brokers in London and one in Belfast were banned by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for their parts in false mortgage applications.

The brokers are Rafiu Adisa Akanbi, Erinma Didi Jordan, Byron Brown and Gerard McStravick.

The FSA says it will continue to act on information from lenders and whistleblowers to tackle fraud.

Regulator's findings

Mortgage applications submitted by Mr Akanbi, trading as Rafin Adisa Akanbi of Greenwich, were supported with false documents such as driving licences, passports and utility bills, the FSA found.

"Banning them supports FSA's remit to tackle financial crime as well as to protect consumers and promote confidence in the financial system"
Jonathan Phelan, FSA

In the case of Mr Jordan, one customer - whose application was backed by a faked accountant's certificate, false copies of a passport, a council tax bill, and a rental value of his current property - told the FSA he had never heard of Mr Jordan of Trekfree Associates Ltd of Peckham.

The FSA also found that a customer of Mr Brown faced a disciplinary investigation by his employer after Mr Brown deliberately entered false salary and employment information on the customer's mortgage application forms without his knowledge and submitted them to lenders.

"The actions of these brokers posed a risk to lenders, and banning them supports FSA's remit to tackle financial crime as well as to protect consumers and promote confidence in the financial system," said Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement at the FSA.

"It is part of a wider FSA effort to tackle mortgage fraud."

Fake pay slips

The FSA found Belfast mortgage broker Mr McStravick submitted mortgage applications containing false information which were backed up by documents including fake pay slips.

He also provided false and misleading information to FSA investigators. He was trading as Fast Track Mortgage and Finance Consultants.

The number of mortgage brokers or introducers banned by the FSA for trying to defraud lenders has now reached double figures this year.

In March, the Association of Chief Police Officers said that mortgage fraud was a significant element of the UK's annual fraud losses.

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