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Written by rosalind renshaw

A huge mortgage fraud case that had been keenly awaited in the legal world has been settled out of court at the last minute.

Neither Barclays nor Savills would comment on the matter, which The Lawyer magazine had tipped to be one of this year’s top 20 court cases.

Barclays had launched the case in an attempt to recoup £12.7m, and was seeking the damages from mortgage brokers Savills Private Finance and chartered surveyors Stocker & Roberts Partnership.

It alleged cases of mortgage fraud between September 2006 and April 2007.

It had also launched a professional negligence claim against Montague Lambert and the firm of solicitors formerly known as Saracens LLP.

Barclays claimed that Stocker & Roberts prepared valuation reports that were ‘persistently and grossly overvalued, consistent with a fraud’.

It also claimed that, in four of the actions, Savills introduced the borrowers to Barclays and commissioned reports from Stocker & Roberts, and that in two of those, the professional acting for Savills received payments of £10,000 and £70,000 into his personal bank account shortly afterwards.

In one of the mortgage transactions, involving two properties in London, Barclays had claimed that a property was valued at £19.5m when it was worth £10.6m.

According to Savills, their man was dismissed in November 2007.

All the parties had denied all the allegations, and a trial had been expected to start this month and to last five weeks, but Michael Douglas QC said that Barclays had reached individual arrangements with each of the defendants and that an all-encompassing agreement had been made between all parties to ensure ‘absolute finality’ on the case.

At the beginning of this year, The Lawyer magazine said: “The case is typical of several major mortgage fraud claims, which litigators say have been circling the City for some time without confirmed instructions.

“Professional negligence lawyers will be observing the case closely, as it provides an opportunity for the country’s leading professional negligence silks to go head-to-head.”

In May last year, Savills sold Savills Private Finance to the brokerage’s senior management team, but continues to hold a 19.99% stake in the business, now renamed SPF Private Clients.

A spokeswoman for Barclays said: “The parties have settled the claims. The terms of the settlement are confidential.”

A spokeswoman for Savills declined to comment.

It is not known whether police or any regulatory bodies are investigating the events surrounding the case.

Comments

  • icon

    Is your insurance up to date? very funny.


    http://www.youtube.com/embed/-0xLQmQ-T00

    butterfly wrecks a house

    • 29 June 2012 17:13 PM
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    Lord,

    Just as it looks like EA’s are going to loose their position on the most hated list to bankers, MP’s, Journalists and so on along come the Ruperts at Savills and blow the whole thing by showing EA’s are as bad as the rest, infact worse…………..bankers, especially Barclays who have managed to get the RBS IT balls up well and truly off the front page of the bank hating media have been mugged off by Savills.

    The worst of the worst banks gets done over by an EA?!, I wish id paid more attention at school so I had a proper job and didn’t have to be associated with this.

    Jonnie

    • 29 June 2012 15:56 PM
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    actually you reming me of the fallout in japan being so similar to the uk

    even 20 years later people don't trust banks and don't buy shares

    20 years of deflation look likely

    just like japan

    • 29 June 2012 15:00 PM
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    Dave,

    Did this happen in Japan too, back in the day?

    • 29 June 2012 14:01 PM
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    fraud investigations aren't what they used to be!

    good to know SFO may be on to barclays(god help us)

    • 29 June 2012 13:49 PM
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    In a shock move Barclays have rebranded, renaming themselve 'Debacles'

    happy funny Fridays everyone

    • 29 June 2012 13:47 PM
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    I wonder how people repossessed by Barclays as a result of them manipulating rates feel ?

    Perhaps their slogan "Fluent in finance" should be "Fluent in Fraud"

    • 29 June 2012 13:19 PM
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    Barclays, the self confessed liars who committed fraud on an unprecedented scale have a cheek really.

    Their fine was not bigger as they admitted what they had done.

    • 29 June 2012 13:15 PM
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    Has anyone asked Piers Morgan his opinion on this?

    Can someone ring him up at 3am to find out please.

    • 29 June 2012 10:05 AM
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    Dodgy surveyors, dodgy solicitors, dodgy sales people (Savills), sounds like a newbuild sales room.

    Its reasons like this the London bubble will pop in a really bad way under all this fraud and ramping.

    • 29 June 2012 09:47 AM
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    With Barclays manipulating the Libor rates (which controls the mortgage payments for many) we should morally be able to deny any fraud claims

    • 29 June 2012 09:14 AM
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