A FRAUDSTER who conned UK mortgage companies out of more than one million pounds to build a letting empire has been jailed for nearly five years.
Leo Kusi-Appiah of Digswell Road, Welwyn Garden City was caught following a lenghty investigation by Hertfordshire Constabulary which revealed he had been providing false information to lenders to obtain mortgages.
St Albans Crown Court heard on Friday how the 42-year-old defendant falsified his identity and details of his income to obtain mortgages which allowed him to set up three letting companies.
Kusi-Appiah purchased 15 properties across the UK, including one in Lemsford Village, just outside Welwyn Garden City and used the addresses to avoid speeding offences which eventually led to his arrest. It has been estimated the value of deception was around £1.6million.
He was given a total of four years and nine months in prison having pleaded guilty to obtaining property by deception at an earlier hearing.
Kusi-Appiah also pleaded guilty to contempt of court, after breaking the Crown Court’s restraint order to access £25,000 of the restrained property.
Detective Sergeant Roy Stammers of the Central Area Money Laundering Unit, said: “This was a complex and detailed investigation that allowed us to use our powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to bring a criminal to justice whose lies allowed him to build up a vast property empire.
"I am pleased with this result as it demonstrates that anyone who is determined to lie to mortgage companies regarding their identity or financial status can expect a prison term.”
