Six arrests in international commercial loans fraud
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Six suspects have been arrested during a search operation on 19 properties throughout England, relating to an investigation into suspected advance fee fraud and commercial rent fraud.
The searches involved more than a hundred investigators and police officers and were carried out to prevent further losses to victims.
The Serious Fraud Office has revealed that the case relates to a company operating as Gresham Ltd and Gresham Finance (London) Ltd, which offered commercial loans of up to £250m.
It promoted its services by advertising in newspapers, magazines and on the internet.
Applicants for loans were charged between £5,000 and £50,000 for a due diligence check.
Most of the applications came from overseas for commercial projects such as developing resorts and building hotels in countries such as Austria and Turkey.
Once an applicant had paid the due diligence fee there was a next-stage payment, or security deposit, set at between 1% and 5% of the loan amount.
Various other company names were also used to offer a similar service.
The same suspects were also involved in a retail property renting business operating as Gresham Ltd, Park Regent Ltd and Castlereagh London Ltd.
The suspects used a complex number of company names in their business dealings, including 45 Oxford St Ltd, Alliance Trust, Renaissance Trust, Cutting and Company (Investments) Limited and Paul Street Media Limited.
Three of the arrested suspects are being held in custody to appear before magistrates later today.
Search warrants were executed at eighteen addresses in London, Surrey, Cheshire and Derbyshire in a mixture of commercial and residential properties.
The searches involved 70 personnel from the SFO and 40 officers provided by the City of London Police, the Derbyshire Constabulary and the Cheshire Police.
Five men and one woman have been arrested and three are due to appear in court later today at City of London Magistrates Court.
The SFO are continuing enquiries into this case and would like to hear from anyone who believes that they might have information useful to the investigation.
The SFO has pointed out that Gresham Finance and Castlereagh Ltd of Dublin, are unconnected companies and not under investigation.
