Four property developers were imprisoned on 9 February 2023 for multiple counts of mortgage and investment fraud which has resulted in losses to investors of over £1.5m with the defendants benefitting over £2.8m ($3.4m, €3.2m).
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Audrey Osbourn and her sons Gary Moore, Clayton Moore and Ian Moore were found guilty of multiple counts of fraud and money laundering related offences and sentenced to three years imprisonment each, with the exception of Ian Moore who received a sentence of two years and four months imprisonment.
Osbourn ran mortgage brokerage business Credence Finance Limited, which was “used as a vehicle to submit multiple false declarations of income in support of mortgage applications,” the CPS said.
In addition to the mortgage frauds, the family secured a number of investors in Dreamscape Homes, including family friends, employees, and Credence customers.
The investors provided between £20,000 to £104,000 each. Some of the investors re-mortgaged their own homes to fund this. They received share certificates in return. None of the investors received a return as the land was never developed.
Gurminder Sanghera of the CPS said: “Between them, Audrey Osbourn and her sons committed multiple offences of fraud and money laundering through dishonesty, misleading mortgage providers and betraying the trust placed in them by friends, employees and customers. They did so for their own personal benefit.
“The victims suffered financial hardship as a consequence of the defendants’ greed. Others described the emotional heartbreak and distress caused to them and their families. We will now pursue confiscation proceedings against them to ensure they have not benefitted from their criminal conduct and, if possible, to compensate the victims.”
