Award-winning mortgage broker in £1m fraud

An award-winning mortgage broker who set out to build a £1 million family home has escaped immediate imprisonment after admitting fraud and false representation.

Marcus Copeland, 44, inflated his income in order to obtain mortgages for himself to build the house, according to a report in Wales Online.

He also used the same system to obtain mortgages for some of his clients.

Copeland, who lives in Llandudno, Wales, admitted five charges of obtaining a money transfer for clients by deception, getting them mortgages by claiming that they earned more than they did.

He also admitted two charges of fraud involving mortgages for himself, one by falsely claiming his net profit was higher than it was, and another by falsely claiming that he had an income of £148,500.

Copeland also had to be dealt with for seven counts of dishonesty dating back to 2006 and 2007.

Mold Crown Court heard that in 2007 Copeland was named best mortgage broker in the Midlands and Wales.

In May 2012 police and representatives of the Financial Services Authority attended the offices and seized a large amount of paper work because it was suspected he had made fraudulent mortgage applications.

The investigation showed he had inflated their earnings and in some cases provided false wage slips.

He obtained a £379,000 mortgage in April 2007 for himself by claiming he earned more than he did.

He earned £45,000 in 2006 but he claimed he earned £128,000.

Then in July 2007 he secured a £450,000 mortgage after claiming he was the £148,000 head of finance for a company with £30,000 a year commission, when his only income was as a self-employed mortgage broker.

An investigation that began in 2012 took two years to complete during which his health had deteriorated. He now suffered psychological and physical problems.

Jonathan Austin, defending, said his client obtained the mortgages for himself to build a dream home for his young family.

But he said he has now lost everything. 

The court handed him an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years.