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Written by rosalind renshaw

A tenant who stole her landlords’ identities to try and con mortgages worth £3m has been jailed for five years.

Most of her cons were unsuccessful, but she did obtain £515,900.

Feruza Mettrick, a 33-year-old independent financial adviser with knowledge of mortgages, targeted properties being let in Leeds, Huddersfield and Harrogate. She looked for properties which had no outstanding loans or borrowing against them, via letting agents.

She rented them using fake documents and utility bills before pretending to be the real owner and applying for loans.

With the help of two male accomplices, she approached financial institutions for mortgages or loans. In one deception, Mettrick took on the identity of a 67-year-old woman who owned a large detached bungalow in Harrogate and gained a £120,000 home improvement loan.

In some cases, attempts were made to sell off properties without the real owners being aware.

Leeds Building Society, one of the financial institutions concerned, reported its suspicions to police. Mettrick, of Newton Garth, Leeds, was arrested, claiming to be another person and wearing a disguise of wig and glasses at the Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Harrogate last September. She had with her various forged forms of identities as well as seven mobile phones.

One of the mobile phones had a number which had been used in an attempt to sell a property in Harrogate, while keys on a fob related to another address in Harrogate. She also had a Lithuanian identity card.

Mettrick initially refused to cooperate with police until confronted with her own identity information. She subsequently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

Nick Worsley, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court that Mettrick was the main player in the fraud, and as an independent financial adviser had in-depth knowledge of financial matters. Had all her attempts to get mortgages and other loans been successful, the further loss to lending institutions would have been £2,459,250.

As it was, money had been transferred to Latvia and the Channel Islands.

Mr Worsley added: “This is sophisticated, repeated and professional offending by a defendant adept at using disguise and subterfuge.”

Judge James Spencer said: “She is a conman. I don’t accept anything she says.” He said such fraud would not be tolerated.

Mettrick now faces a proceeds of crime investigation. The other two people involved in the fraud have already been sentenced. 

Comments

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    • 11 June 2014 12:25 PM
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    I am a Licensed Conveyancer. A way to stop this sort of theft is to leave a small amount outstanding on a loan so it appears that there is an outstanding mortgage on the title of the property in the Charges Register. The title to the property should be registered and the mortgage deed should have no account number visible, as again, this would defeat fraud. This makes it difficult for fraudsters to sell the property or deal with it in any way because they would have to deal with the mortgage/loan company first.

    It clearly says in this report that the fraudster targeted properties that had no outstanding loans on them.

    • 29 April 2014 08:45 AM
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    I agree with Tony... Say she earns £40k per year as an independent financial advsior - she would have made £100k within 2 & 1/2 years. Take away living expenses... She might have made £50K profit if living an extremely frugal life. However she managed to swindle over half a million and will serve 2 & 1/2 years. And no living expenses in those 2 & 1/2 years as they are courtesy of the tax payer. That was probably worth it for her...

    • 11 May 2012 10:52 AM
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    5 Years!! calculated crime and undoubtedly will be out re offending when out in 2 half years because thats all she knows...this bastard should have got at least 15 years for this....risk and reward is to great for criminals in this country

    • 13 September 2011 10:32 AM
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    How can the judge call her conman. She is a women. Blind dishes out justice !!!!!

    • 12 July 2011 09:56 AM
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    This is a very good example of a series of frauds which could not have taken place if the owners of the properties concerned had obtained title theft protection available from Gatekeeper Asset Protection on www.gatekeeperprotection.com. We would be very happy to discuss the protection offered with any interested parties.

    • 12 July 2011 09:53 AM
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