Regulatory news

FSA fraud crackdown continues

23 February 2008

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) crackdown on mortgage fraud has continued with the banning of two brokers for submitting false mortgage applications.

The regulator found that Amjad Malik and Tahir Mahmood, of Abbaci Associates in Ilford, Essex, had submitted applications on behalf of clients which contained false information relating to the clients’ incomes and occupations.

The breaches of practice took place between October 2004 and October 2007 when the firm ceased regulated activities at the request of the FSA.

Instances included Mahmood submitting applications for a client who supposedly worked for him, using false pay slips, when the client had never done so. Malik also submitted two different statements of salary and employment for the same client to meet lenders’ criteria.

The FSA concluded that both partners must have known that false information was being given to lenders.

Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement, FSA said: “Banning the partners supports the FSA’s financial crime objective as well as our consumer protection and market confidence objectives.”

Ray Boulger, senior technical manager for John Charcol, said: “In any industry you will have cowboys. It needs a firm regulatory stance to rid the market of that.”

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