The trio, Bruce Robertson, Alick Kapikanya and Irene Perciful were all found guilty of conspiracy to defraud following a trial that lasted ten weeks.
Joseph Marshall, Peter Tanner, Myra Trigg and Christopher Campbell had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, fraud, and acquiring criminal property at earlier hearings.
The large scale fraud first came to light in 2010 when Manchester based property developer James Marshall defaulted on secured loans repayments, which he had fraudulently obtained. As the police investigation progressed, he was also linked with similar complaints in Cheshire and Lincolnshire.
Marshall shared the borrowed money with another property developer, Alick Kapikanya. Kapikanya engaged the services of Trigg, Perciful and Tanner to pose as legitimate home owners to secure the transfer of registered titles of properties. The true owners of the properties knew nothing about this or the loans then secured on their homes. Campbell received money from these loans, knowing or suspecting that it was fraudulent.
Ben Southam, Senior Crown Prosecutor for North West Complex Casework Unit confirmed that it was a complex three year long investigation.
"We have worked closely with Greater Manchester Police to build a strong case against them resulting in four of them pleading guilty, and three of them being found guilty after a full trial. When the defendants were arrested they had successfully defrauding various financial institutions of £3.5 Million, and had attempted to raise a further £3.3 Million.
Ben continued:
"Each of them had their own specific role to play in this fraud, and all were fully aware of their actions. The mortgages and loans were obtained against houses they did not own, and without the knowledge of the real home owners. The true owners knew nothing about the loans being secured against their homes and were caused considerable distress and inconvenience to prove to the lenders that they knew nothing about the loans.
Concluding he said:
"These convictions demonstrate that the police and CPS are committed to investigating and prosecuting those involved in fraud."
