Over recent years mortgage fraud has become a big problem in the UK as well as in other countries and the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has been clamping down on this sort of activity through taking various measures including hefty fines and bans for those industry officials that are found to be involved in mortgage related fraud.

The regulator has recently banned one mortgage broker and handed down a hefty fine for engaging in mortgage related fraud.

The London broker, Grace Nmadibechi Ada Ukala, has been banned from operating by the FSA and has been fined an enormous £70,000 for her part in the submission of misleading and false mortgage applications.

The broker was the director of Goldsparkle Consulting Services Limited and had been approved by the FSA. According to reports she submitted five mortgage applications for herself, but put in dishonest information about income and employment.

The broker was also found to have hidden information about the firm’s finances from HM Revenue and Customs. The fine could have been for much more, but as she opted to settle early it was reduced.

An FSA official said: “This fine, which would have been £100,000 had Ukala not settled early, is aimed at deterring approved persons from getting involved in mortgage fraud. Her earnings, as stated in the mortgage applications, were considerably higher than the income she declared to HMRC. By knowingly submitting false and misleading mortgage applications, Ukala acted in a totally unacceptable fashion.”

She added: “Our work on mortgage fraud continues as a priority in our campaign against financial crime. We have banned more than 60 mortgage brokers over the last three years and we will continue to ban such people to reinforce the message that knowingly giving false and misleading information is dishonest and poses a serious risk to prospective lenders. We will continue to ban individuals who demonstrate a lack of integrity.”

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