Plaistow mortgage broker scammed thousands in loans deals

A mortgage broker who submitted false applications for more than £100,000 in loans to Halifax bank has walked free from court because of her depression.

Sadia Nasir entered her own bank account details on the forms relating to two properties in London and Manchester.

The 30-year-old also used a fake name for the homeowner supposedly applying for the mortgage.

A jury found she had committed the scam following a two-day hearing at the Old Bailey, but was prevented from finding her criminally responsible after she was earlier ruled unfit to plead.

Judge John Bevan QC told jurors detaining Nasir in hospital was “not appropriate because she is being cared for in the community for a long-term, deep depression.”

He added: “The only sentence I can sensibly pass is one of an absolute discharge.”

“It is certainly an unusual trial, but it is not a waste of time because there are cases in which there is a genuine issue in which a person who didn’t do it could find themselves in a mental hospital when they haven’t done anything wrong.”

Nasir, the director of Sucasa London Ltd, stood to gain £44,000 on one address in Ilfordand £58,907 on the second in Manchester.

Catherine Farrelly, prosecuting, said she denied playing any part in either of the applications and had no idea where these false documents had come from.

She explained that even if it was a member of her staff, all of the transactions had to be carried out in her name as she was the director of the company and money goes into her personal bank account.

“She said at the time in 2007 she had been heavily pregnant and was not in a position to know what was going on.”

Nasir refused to name any of her staff but did accept that two of the addresses used in support of one mortgage application were her home and her mother’s home.

“In essence the prosecution say it was Sadia Nasir who was behind these two frauds,” said Miss Farrelly.

“She was the person who stood to gain and it was very much in her interest for these frauds to be effected.

“It is quite clear it was this defendant who was behind both of these fraudulent applications.”

Nasir, of Gardiner Road, Plaistow, was charged with two counts of fraud by false representation between March 1 and March 7, 2007.

The jury had ruled that she “did the act” on each count.