Four more arrested in North East Property Buyers investigation

Sep 29 2009 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal

They were all questioned on suspicion of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud, and released on bail.

Det Sgt Phil Loveday, of Northumbria Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “We have arrested four more people at various addresses in County Durham,” he explained. “They were all employed by North East Property Buyers in managerial roles.

“These are the people that were responsible for running the place on a day-to-day basis.

“We suspect these people have operated in a very underhand way and most of the tenants are elderly and vulnerable people. The investigation will take many months but it is gathering pace and there will be many more arrests in the coming months.”

Hundreds of families across the North East and beyond have become victims of the North East property scandal.

Many have already been served with eviction notices from mortgage companies repossessing the properties.

And it is feared 2,000 homes belonging to the companies could now be repossessed. But a judge at Newcastle County Court is expected to hear test cases in the New Year before reaching a decision on future evictions.

Detectives launched a major fraud probe in March after raiding homes and offices connected to North East Property Buyers and Newcastle Home Loans.

Newcastle Home Loans and its directors have now been struck off by the FSA for providing false information in mortgage applications.