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London broker banned and fined for mortgage fraud

Published on 12 Apr 2010 under category: legal

A London-based director of a mortgage broker firm has been banned from the industry after making 42 fraudulent applications.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) also fined Gary Lester £103,000 for the applications which on behalf of his customers and himself.

Two other members of Lifestyle Mortgages' staff were banned for failing to investigate and monitor the information given by customers.

According to the FSA, details of income and financial history were intentionally wrong on around 42 of the 48 applications investigated by the watchdog.

Mr Lester denied several pieces of the evidence upheld by the FSA, such as the identical bank details on several of the applications.

On the decisions, Margaret Cole, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said: "Lester and his colleagues deserve to be banned and Lester in particular has been dealt with severely to deter others from conducting themselves in a similarly unacceptable way."
The court notice concluded that Mr Lester presented a risk to lenders and the integrity of the financial system.

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