Son And Mother Jailed For £650K Mortgage Scam That Funded Property Empire

Wayne Stubbs

A tax-dodging property wheeler-dealer and his jobless mother, who orchestrated a £650,000 mortgage fraud, which funded their property empire were both jailed yesterday.

Wayne Stubbs, 44, received six years and his mother Wendy Stubbs, 62, also of Briarwood House, Orpington Road, Chislehurst, Kent received three years.

Wayne's ex-girlfriend Rachel Gledhill, 39, of Armitage Road, Milnsbridge who worked for Harvey Nichols, but allegedly posed an IT consultant and fine arts dealer to get loans was found not guilty of participating in the plot.

Prosecutor Mr. Nick Mather told the Old Bailey at their trial that Gledhill purchased 52 Hollyfield Avenue, Huddersfield in 2004 with the help of a £225,000 mortgage granted on the basis she was a £67,000 a year IT consultant.

“That is simply untrue, she is not an IT consultant and she was not earning that money. She was working as a sale assistant in Harvey Nichols.

“This is a lie on the mortgage application and this is part of a pattern of lies that go throughout this case.”

The jury were told Wayne was the mastermind behind the frauds. “This is not something Rachel Gledhill has decided to do off her own bat.”

The second property Gledhill purchased, 4 The Courtyard, Holwood, Keston, Kent, needed a £424,950 mortgage and she claimed to run her own successful fine arts business to obtain the loan in 2005.

“She say's she's a professional and had been doing this since May 1996 and owned one hundred per cent of the business.”

Gledhill claimed to net over £172,000 a year from the non-existent business, added Mr. Mather. “All of that was untrue because we known how much she was earning.”

The last known income for Gledhill was £12,000 in 2004 and from 2005 to 2011 she has no employment or tax records whatsoever.

“You can be confident these are lies in her documentation.”

4 The Courtyard was rented for £2,000 per month without the permission of the lender and sold in May, 2008 for £472,000, which the prosecution say is criminal property.

The Stubbs' were involved in further frauds on their own, added Mr. Maher. “It's about mortgage fraud and money laundering.

“These three defendants, individually and together, obtained a number of different mortgages and they did this by lying about their employment and income.

Wendy Stubbs

“They then bought properties on the back of these lies and received steady income by renting out these properties to tenants and that amounted to criminal conduct that was never declared.

“Wayne is behind each and every one of these transactions. His fingerprints, euphemistically speaking, are all over this case.”

Wendy fronted the purchase of one property by claiming to be a £120,000 financial consultant.

“She has never, prior or since, earned that money. She was unemployed and on benefits.”

On another occasion she claimed to be a £75,000 a year interior designer and Wayne himself posed as a £110,000 a year unit trust dealer to obtain a big mortgage.

Wayne has not employment or tax history between 1995 and 2011. “He's a man who has no income at all as far as Revenue and Customs are concerned.

“He's someone seemingly under the radar with no income.”

The Stubbs' were convicted of four counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception for which they are jointly charged.

Ms Stubbs was also found guilty of three counts of entering or becoming concerned with a money laundering arrangement, and a count each of obtaining a money transfer by deception, acquiring criminal property and fraud by false representation.

Ms Stubbs denied but was convicted of entering or becoming concerned with a money laundering arrangement and two counts of acquiring criminal property.