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Mortgage broker banned for failing fraud checks

Published on 16 Feb 2010 under category: legal

A London-based mortgage broker has been banned by the financial services watchdog for failing to prevent his business from being targeted by mortgage fraudsters.

The Financial Services Industry (FSA) found that Kevin Byrne of the Walthamstow company Forest Financial did not conduct basic checks on client information supplied by introducers. In seven instances, he submitted applications with false information, with one instance in which the client was entirely fictional.

During the investigation, it was found that he failed to ask for originals of key documents, a bank statement for one applicant contained two different sort codes and account numbers, two applications had been made using false passports and payslips that were supposedly for different employers were identical.

Margaret Cole, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said: "Byrne acted recklessly by accepting business from introducers without undertaking any due diligence.

"This made him an easy target for the introducer to obtain mortgage advances from lenders on a fraudulent basis, which could have been prevented if Forest Financial had put in place basic financial crime checks.

"Byrne is paying a heavy but necessary price. This prohibition serves as another warning to mortgage brokers who accept business from introducers in suspicious circumstances without doing the proper checks."

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