Mortgage Madness 2003

Sapphire

stonethrower wrote: »

There is not much chance of anyone getting charged, everyone knew what was going on from bankers up to the politicians. But the gravy train was supposed to go on forever

Yes, I am aware of that – but the situation continues to outrage me. Surely never in British history have so many people broken the law and/or blatantly flouted the rules of 'decency' (e.g. MPs' expenses scam; crooks sitting in the Lords; massive pensions and bonuses for individuals who have brought down a country's economy courtesy of honest taxpayers, etc.) and got away with it. :mad:

It's the sort of thing one generally hears about in countries where there are strict dictatorships and a lack of democracy, and where any form of protest is rigidly stamped out.

Perhaps when the unelected Brown and his cronies are kicked out and Cameron gets in and gets rid of the FSA things may change a little, but I have my doubts.

Thrugelmir

May not hit the news but action is being taken.

FSA fines and bans Newcastle Home Loans and its directors for false information in mortgage applications





FSA/PN/107/2009
04 August 2009
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned Newcastle Home Loans (NHL), a mortgage broker based in Newcastle, from carrying out regulated mortgage activities.
The FSA worked closely with Northumbria Police and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in this investigation which involved a significant number of individuals across a range of financial, property and legal businesses in the Newcastle area.
The ban of NHL was the final part of the FSA’s action in relation to NHL and connected individuals. Earlier this year the FSA fined NHL £170,000 for submitting false information in mortgage applications and for allowing David Purdie to act as its chief executive without FSA approval. NHL failed to pay this fine. The FSA has also banned NHL’s directors Linda Patterson and Grace Darling Purdie, and fined Mrs Purdie £85,000. Other individuals involved have also been banned - David Purdie, the shadow CEO, and mortgage introducers Michael Foster and Kenneth Robinson.
NHL was used by its principals and by the mortgage introducers knowingly to submit mortgage applications to a lender which contained false information. This resulted in the lender unsuspectingly advancing sums which, in some cases, were considerably higher than the purchase price of the property.
Margaret Cole, FSA director of enforcement, said:
“The failures at NHL were serious, deliberate and occurred as a matter of routine. Its principals acted in a totally unacceptable fashion and their actions and the actions of those connected to the firm posed a serious risk to the lender and to market confidence generally.
“In the last three years we have banned 60 brokers and levied fines totalling more than £1 million in relation to mortgage fraud. We will continue to tackle mortgage fraud and perpetrators will find themselves facing bans and higher fines.”
Northumbria Police recently arrested Grace Darling Purdie, David Purdie, Linda Patterson and Michael Foster, among others. Its investigation, and that of the SRA, continues.

FSA bans Cornwall mortgage broker for fraud





FSA/PN/106/2009
3 August 2009
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned Cornwall mortgage broker Stephen Sanders for submitting at least three mortgage applications on behalf of customers which he knew contained false and misleading income information.
Sanders also withheld information from a prospective employer relating to an investigation into him by his former employer which resulted in his suspension. Further, Sanders failed to disclose to the FSA that he was the subject of an ongoing disciplinary investigation into his conduct by his former employer when applying to the FSA to perform a controlled function.
For the first customer mortgage application, the income as stated in the mortgage application, was substantively higher that that declared by the customer to HMRC. In the second mortgage application the income stated in a mortgage application included some of the income of the customer’s parents which was falsely described as his own. And in the third case there were discrepancies in the application about the income sources of the two customers who were making a joint application.
Margaret Cole, FSA director of enforcement, said:
"Sanders submitted mortgage applications which he knew to be false and this posed a serious risk to lenders and confidence in the financial system. Our work on mortgage fraud continues as a priority in our campaign against financial crime. We have banned more than 60 mortgage brokers over the last three years and we will continue to ban such people to reinforce the message that knowingly giving false and misleading information to prospective lenders is dishonest. Approved Persons must also be open and honest with the FSA and prospective employers about their circumstances. Behaviour which shows lack of honesty and integrity will result in a ban."

Sapphire

Thrugelmir wrote: »

May not hit the news but action is being taken.

Comparatively minor fines by the FSA well after the event for a few individuals are grossly insufficient for the scale of the criminal acts. The FSA is just doing this so that it will look good.

It amazes me that the boring beaurocrat who is still at the 'top' of the FSA – the one who often appears on TV – is still in his post when it is obvious that he was totally incompetent and impotent in dealing with any misdemeanours in the financial sector in the years leading up to the current crisis. Just as it amazes me that so many other guilty individuals are still in leading positions in this country and obviously in a position to make further horrendous errors affecting the people of Britain, while lining their own pockets in various ways.

Thrugelmir

Sapphire wrote: »

Comparatively minor fines by the FSA well after the event for a few individuals are grossly insufficient for the scale of the criminal acts. The FSA is just doing this so that it will look good.

It amazes me that the boring beaurocrat who is still at the 'top' of the FSA – the one who often appears on TV – is still in his post when it is obvious that he was totally incompetent and impotent in dealing with any misdemeanours in the financial sector in the years leading up to the current crisis. Just as it amazes me that so many other guilty individuals are still in leading positions in this country and obviously in a position to make further horrendous errors affecting the people of Britain, while lining their own pockets in various ways.

Thats a very cynical view. The time and effort it takes to detect fraud is very time consuming.

The FSA is far more active than you may realise across many areas.

You should join a political party if you hold strong views. As thats the only way of changing and making policy.