Mortgage fraud crackdown to begin

Police in London are to step up their efforts to stamp out mortgage fraud in proposals which would highlight the impact that the problem has on properties and business.

The comments come after the industry challenged reports which said that mortgage fraud cost £700 million a year.

Oliver Shaw, detective superintendent in the city police economic crime unit, told the Financial Times: "We are reacting to the pressure of the FSA, of other police forces."

Mr Shaw has said that 50 new recruits will be working in anti-fraud investigations next month and there is a chance that all of them may be working exclusively on mortgage scams.

The CML had earlier said that the claims of the police that mortgage fraud was funding organised crime were "unsubstantiated" and dismissed the figure of £700 million being taken through the crime, despite police saying it was a conservative figure.

As the trade association for the mortgage lending industry, CML members account for around 98 per cent of mortgage lending in the UK.

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