Criminal Mortgage Broker

Paul_Plumber

Can anybody help ?
We recently remortgaged our house to raise money for a business venture only to find our mortgage broker stole the money raised from the remortgage, we thought it was safe in a savings account he organised for us . The broker is on his way to her majesty's pleasure and we are left broke. Can we bring a case against the building society for being complicit ? Can we freeze the mortgage payments and all while we pursue our case without affecting our credit rating ?
Can anyone help ?

ACG

You would need to complain to whoever the savings account is/was with.
They have accepted a fraudulent transaction.

With regards to your mortgage and credit report, your payments would still need to be made otherwise it will affect your credit report. It might be worth speaking to the lender but presumably you didnt borrow the money to then rely on those finds to make your monthly repayments?

GMS

Not the lender's fault. They advanced funds and you disbursed them.

Was the lender aware of the funds being used for business?

I assume you instructed the solicitors to put the funds in the savings account?

Don't stop paying the mortgage as it will trash your credit rating.

opinions4u

Long shot:

Complain to the brokerage. If they're no longer trading the FSCS may take on their liabilities so take your complaint to them.

I'm right into woolly territory here though.

Wh05apk

I think straight to a solicitor this morning to try to unravel this, presumably the solicitor acting for the remortgage transferred the funds back to the broker?

dunstonh

The lender has no liability or has done no wrong. So, dont do anything silly with the mortgage, like not paying it.

Was a savings account actually opened?

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

I would go to a criminal solicitor, but not the firm who did the conveyancing - think you'd benefit from some independence here. A number of questions I'd want to know to give better advice is 1) was the savings account ever set up 2) in whose name 3) under whose authority did the lender disburse the funds to the broker not to you - this is unsual in the extreme.

There are a number of parties to this transaction whose regulatory bodies may be able to help you

And unless there was collusion on a massive scale, the lender seems unlikely to be at fault, and I'm afraid you do need to pay

antrobus

The first question I'd ask would be; was the mortgage broker authorised to hold client monies? Since the FSCS might not offer any prospect of relief without such authorisation, and there might be a basis of a complaint against the lender or solicitor for paying the remortgage money to someone who wasn't authorised.

But I don't really know I'm just speculating. I'd go an speak to a proper solicitor.

ACG wrote: »

You would need to complain to whoever the savings account is/was with. They have accepted a fraudulent transaction....

The OP merely "thought it was safe in a savings account" the broker had arranged. If the broker stole the money, it's more likely he simply had the money paid into his own account and spent it.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat wrote: »

I would go to a criminal solicitor,...

I'm not sure what help a criminal solicitor would be. The broker concerned has already felt the force of the criminal law. OP wants a solicitor with expertise in civil recovery, preferably with knowledge of how financial regulation operates.

I suspect that the OP's prospects of recovery depend on a detailed examination of the exact mechanics of what occurred.

Let_Us_See

Was the adviser a "one man band" and were they Directly Authorised or part of a network. If network, then contact and make complaint as network would be liable for advice and advisers actions, and it is highly likely (but not guaranteed) the adviser would have PII cover.

Paul_Plumber

The savings account never existed as he forged statements and pocketed the money to afford his life style. He did this mortgage scam at least ten times to others. After brokering the mortgage the remortgage monies/cheque was handed to me then I naively gave it to him. His business was a one man band and he is now on his way to her majesty's pleasure, ombudsman is on the case as well as FSCS we will wait and see ...

GMS

Paul_Plumber wrote: »

The savings account never existed as he forged statements and pocketed the money to afford his life style. He did this mortgage scam at least ten times to others. After brokering the mortgage the remortgage monies/cheque was handed to me then I naively gave it to him. His business was a one man band and he is now on his way to her majesty's pleasure, ombudsman is on the case as well as FSCS we will wait and see ...

So you banked a cheque made payable to you and wrote another payable to the broker?

Otherwise how did he get the funds earmarked for you from your solicitor via cheque?

If you nominated an account then the solicitor could disburse funds as per your instruction but a cheque marked Payee only couldn't go to a third party account.

If the account was set up fraudulently in your name then take it up with the bank