Mortgage fraud is becoming more common
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A mortgage fraudster from East London has been banned by the main City regulator from anything to do with the financial services industry.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said Andrew Kiplimo was "not a fit and proper person in terms of honesty, integrity and reputation."
Kiplimo, who has disappeared from view, fed bogus mortgage applications to potential lenders.
The FSA said its action was part of a wider investigation of mortgage fraud.
Introduction fees
Kiplimo, who acted as a mortgage "introducer", was accused of making up the pay and employment details on mortgage applications, and also of using false accounts and tax information.
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Have no further dealings with him
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The authorities believe he was hoping to make money by deceiving mortgage lenders and brokers into giving him introduction fees.
He kept on doing this even after one lender had rumbled his fraud.
Jonathan Phelan at the FSA said Kiplimo posed a severe threat to lenders.
"Mr Kiplimo's actions and his failure to co-operate with the FSA demonstrate a lack of honesty and integrity, and show that he is not a fit and proper person," he said.
"Anyone who is approached by him about regulated business is strongly advised to have no further dealings with him," he added.
The FSA has reported Kiplimo to the Police for fraud but they have not been able to trace him.
Fraud success
The FSA's actions come as evidence has emerged that fraudsters are becoming more successful at trying to cheat mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and bank accounts.
Two partners in a mortgage broking firm were banned by the FSA last month for submitting bogus applications.
CIFAS, the fraud prevention service, said that last year one in five of the fraudulent applications it had detected had been successful.
There were 14,400 of them, twice as many as in 2004, with the fraudsters' success rate running at twice the level that it had seen three years earlier.
In February the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) warned that its members were at an increasing risk of fraud from the sale of newly built City-centre flats.
It said that the slowdown in the housing market might tempt some developers into offering greater "incentives" to potential buyers.
This might lead to lenders being misled about the true value of the properties on which they were being asked to grant a loan.
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