Seven cleared of £3.5 million mortgage fraud

Six men and a woman were cleared today of taking part in a £3.5 million mortgage fraud.

The scam was said to have involved transforming hard-up home hunters into apparently wealthy property buyers.

London's Southwark Crown Court was told a major building company allegedly helped by providing false valuations.

But apart from one defendant who said he had not been involved at all, those on trial explained they had either done nothing wrong or never suspected anything amiss.

Jurors trying the two-month case took less than five hours to decide they were telling the truth and returned not guilty verdicts.

Several burst into tears as they were cleared, as did a number of their relatives and supporters in the public gallery.

In the dock were Mohammed Barrie, 39, and his 29-year-old brother Muctaru, both of Pinewood Place, Dartford, Kent.

The first, who was accused of helping "recruit" purchasers for the flats, told the court he had "no knowledge" of any fraud and believed he was simply involved in "legal transactions".

His brother, alleged to have been a cash courier, said the Crown's allegations were completely without substance.

Also on trial were mortgage brokers George Sourou, 43, of The Crescent, Ilford, and Brad Fisher, 44, of Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex.

The first explained he had been too busy to carry out any of the work handed to him by missing alleged mastermind Alim Barry, and handed it to Fisher instead.

For his part Fisher told jurors he "did nothing wrong" and never suspected anything amiss.

Another broker, Sofiyah Ahmed, 28, of Howard Road, Walthamstow, east London, said in evidence that as far as she was concerned she had done nothing wrong either and had always "worked within the rules".

Chartered accountant Dean Dairo, 48, of Eastern Avenue, South Ockendon, Essex, who was accused of preparing bogus accounts for a number of the purchasers, said nothing could have been further from the truth. They were genuine clients and he had acted for them for a number of years.

Solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu, 45, of Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, east London, explained he too had "no idea anything wrong was going on".

The lawyer, Mohammed Barrie, Dairo, Fisher, Sourou and Ahmed were all cleared of conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders between October 1 2005, and November 1 the following year.

In addition, Izuchukwu and Mohammed Barrie were cleared, together with his brother Muctaru, of plotting to launder money.

An eighth defendant, Stuart Joseph, 65, of Furham Field, Pinner, Essex, who admitted seven specimen counts of false accounting, will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

Richard Mandel, prosecuting, said the case centred on a riverside block of 84 flats in Thamesmead, south-east London, built and completed in 2006.

During construction it was sold for a bargain £15,838,000 to Alim Barry, allegedly creating a "golden opportunity" to make "breathtaking" profits by selling the apartments for up to 64% above the original purchase price.