FSA bans East London mortgage broker for involvement with fraud
30th April 2009The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned Tower Hamlets based mortgage adviser Zia Chowdhury for certifying client identities for fraudulent mortgage applications. He also operated his firm Express Financial without being approved by the FSA as required.
Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement at the FSA, said:
"Mr Chowdhury's actions posed a serious risk to lenders. Our crackdown on mortgage fraud is gathering pace - we have banned more than 40 mortgage brokers over the last two years, and we will continue to ban people who become involved in mortgage fraud, in order to stamp out this behaviour."
The FSA found that Mr Chowdhury:
- certified client identity documents accompanying five fraudulent mortgage applications as true copies of the originals without seeing the original documents or meeting the clients;
- submitted the mortgage applications in circumstances in which he must have suspected that false information might have been used or that the individuals who referred the applications might be involved in mortgage fraud; and
- knowingly carried out controlled functions at Express Financial without being approved.
