Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Another half a million pounds...plus costs.
Today, in the Northern Echo, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council were shown up again. In 2005/06 the Scanlon Tribunal report showed that Pauline Scanlon had been harrassed, bullied and intimidated and then unfairly dismissed by the now ex-CEO Colin Moore and the now ex-finance officer Ray Richardson. Despite these two men being found to have changed their evidence to the tribunal overnight, guilty of sharp practise, and being deliberately disingenuous and despite the leader of the opposition calling for Moore in particular to be investigated, neither of them were investigated or sacked.
The council, since that decision was made, have continually wasted tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money, appealing the decision when they have had no chance of ever winning it. Today, the decision is final and Pauline Scanlon has been awarded nearly half a million pounds.
This councils ineptitude aswell as its dishonesty is now, once again, there for all to see. As a result of this even more questions have to be answered. Why were Moore and Richardson never investigated and sacked? Why were they allowed to slip out of the backdoor with glowing references from the very man who had called for Moores investigation and huge payoffs running into hundreds of thousands of pounds? The un-named council spokesman said that this was all a long time ago and a new CEO was in place now blah de blah, but if it was all so long ago then why have the council continually appealed against the decision and why were councilors still defending Moore at a FOI tribunal that I called for and which took place three weeks ago?
The fact that the council have kept appealing the decision is in itself a contradiction when the leader of the council was so outraged by it that he called for Moores investigation? Why would the leader authorise each appeal and spend huge sums of public money doing so, when he knew that Moore had behaved so badly and that the council were so wrong? Or was it that he kept on appealing until enough time had passed that a council spokesman could quite easily say "That was all a long time ago"?
But if it was all such a long time ago, why did Councilor Peter Scott, at an FOI tribunal in Newcastle three weeks ago, knowing how despicably and dishonestly Moore had behaved, describe Colin Moore an "an honest man"?
Why are this council still defending the ex -CEO when his investigation was called for twice and when he was openly found to be sharp practising, evidence changing and deliberately disingenuous? Why was he rewarded with glowing references and a huge pay off instead of no references and the sack?
But the biggest question of all is if this council are paying nearly half a million pounds to an ex emplyee who used to be in a £25,000 per year job in the council, then how much did they pay the assistant Chief Executive who was due to go to tribunal in May this year, who's case would have exposed the whole dirty truth about this council, who had called John Wilkinson and I as witnesses, but who settled out of court just the week before our film "Coatham, a common concern" was shown in parliament?
The council, since that decision was made, have continually wasted tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money, appealing the decision when they have had no chance of ever winning it. Today, the decision is final and Pauline Scanlon has been awarded nearly half a million pounds.
This councils ineptitude aswell as its dishonesty is now, once again, there for all to see. As a result of this even more questions have to be answered. Why were Moore and Richardson never investigated and sacked? Why were they allowed to slip out of the backdoor with glowing references from the very man who had called for Moores investigation and huge payoffs running into hundreds of thousands of pounds? The un-named council spokesman said that this was all a long time ago and a new CEO was in place now blah de blah, but if it was all so long ago then why have the council continually appealed against the decision and why were councilors still defending Moore at a FOI tribunal that I called for and which took place three weeks ago?
The fact that the council have kept appealing the decision is in itself a contradiction when the leader of the council was so outraged by it that he called for Moores investigation? Why would the leader authorise each appeal and spend huge sums of public money doing so, when he knew that Moore had behaved so badly and that the council were so wrong? Or was it that he kept on appealing until enough time had passed that a council spokesman could quite easily say "That was all a long time ago"?
But if it was all such a long time ago, why did Councilor Peter Scott, at an FOI tribunal in Newcastle three weeks ago, knowing how despicably and dishonestly Moore had behaved, describe Colin Moore an "an honest man"?
Why are this council still defending the ex -CEO when his investigation was called for twice and when he was openly found to be sharp practising, evidence changing and deliberately disingenuous? Why was he rewarded with glowing references and a huge pay off instead of no references and the sack?
But the biggest question of all is if this council are paying nearly half a million pounds to an ex emplyee who used to be in a £25,000 per year job in the council, then how much did they pay the assistant Chief Executive who was due to go to tribunal in May this year, who's case would have exposed the whole dirty truth about this council, who had called John Wilkinson and I as witnesses, but who settled out of court just the week before our film "Coatham, a common concern" was shown in parliament?
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 5:29 AM
Thursday, November 05, 2009
And all Mr Dunning could say was "Everything between Redcar and Cleveland council and Persimmon is fine"?
After bringing this ongoing story to the attention of George Dunning all he could say was "Everything between Redcar and Cleveland council and Persimmon is fine"? Would you spend millions of pounds of public money on behalf of a builder who had been involved in such a scandal?
November 03, 2009
DARTFORD, KENT; WALTHAMSTOW, FOREST GATE, E LONDON; ILFORD, SOUTH OCKENDON, ESSEX; PINNER, MIDDX.
A broker accused of helping to run a £19m sub-prime mortgage con claimed today (Tue) he was also ‘deceived’ by the set-up.Businessman Brad Fisher, 44, helped swindle millions in an elaborate scam in which construction giant Persimmon Homes played an ‘instrumental’ role, it is claimed.
A broker accused of helping to run a £19m sub-prime mortgage con claimed today (Tue) he was also ‘deceived’ by the set-up.
Businessman Brad Fisher, 44, helped swindle millions in an elaborate scam in which construction giant Persimmon Homes played an ‘instrumental’ role, it is claimed.
Alim Barry, the alleged mastermind of the scam, fled the country with most of the cash and has not been seen since.
Barry and his cousin Mohammed Barrie made huge profits when they bought an entire block of flats from Persimmon at a knock-down price before selling on the individual properties, it is alleged.
Prosecutors say the fraudsters created dozens of fake financial histories for their ‘buyers’ so their mortgage applications would be approved.
Fisher, who owns and runs mortgage broker firm The Money Superstore, or TMS, allegedly submitted vastly inflated valuations for the flats to High Street banks.
He duped the lenders into handing over far more than the properties were worth to borrowers who had no hope of repaying the money, it is said.
The crooks then pocketed the profits - estimated at £3.5m.
But Fisher denied any complicity in the illegal activity, claiming he was ‘deceived.'
Fisher had a meeting with Barry to a business deal involving mortgages for Persimmon Homes, the court heard.
Prosecutor Richard Mandel asked: ‘So is the position that your discussion with Alim Barry left you with the impression that you would be dealing with clients who were buying property from Persimmon Homes?’
‘That was the impression I was given,’ Fisher replied.
‘I now know that it was not the position.’
The court has heard Alim Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the 84 flats from Persimmon for £15.25m and sold them for £18.75m - a profit of £3.5m.
Barry then employed his cousin to recruit ‘dupes’ from within the Sierra Leonean community to act as mortgage applicants for the flats in Thamesmead, South East London.
It is claimed he and others promised the ‘buyers’ that they could get a luxury flat without paying any deposit, presenting them with detailed prospectuses to persuade them to sign up.
One applicant was even recruited as he queued for groceries in the supermarket, it is said.25 of these ‘dupes’ were sent to Fisher to fill in bogus mortgage applications, it is claimed.
Mr Mandel asked: ‘As far as the impression you received was the impression you were meant to be receiving, you were deceived?’ Fisher answered: ‘That’s correct.’
All mortgage payments for the flats were made by Barry and members of his family, the jury was told. ‘He never told me that,' said Fisher.
‘If I discovered he deceived me about that I would have notified the appropriate authorities and stopped working with him.’
The prosecutor said: ‘In fact you knew exactly what the picture was, didn’t you? All along?’ ‘No, I didn’t. No’, the broker denied.‘I never knew the real seller was Alim Barry.’
Fisher never knew the claims he submitted were false, he told the jury.
He said: ‘I have never willingly or knowingly submitted any false documents or any false income references to any lender at any time.’
Shaun Hammond, defending, asked: ‘Have you ever knowingly submitted anything false to a lender?’
Fisher replied: ‘Never in my entire professional career have I knowingly or willingly provided any false documents to any lender or professional institution.
‘I never had any flats repossessed or houses repossessed from any customers or any blemishes against me from the FSA or any complaints or anything.’
Accountant Stuart Joseph, 43, has admitted inventing financial references for fraudulent mortgage applicants, the court heard.
But Fisher again denied knowing the financial references were false.
Alongside Fisher in the dock are Mohammed, 39, and Muctaru Barrie, 29, mortgage valuers Brad Fisher, 44, George Sourou, 43, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, accountant Dean Dairo, 48, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Mr Mandel told the court that staff at Persimmon were ‘instrumental’ in creating inflated valuations for the flats so that mortgage lenders would part with more cash.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting.
The trial continues
ENDS
November 03, 2009
DARTFORD, KENT; WALTHAMSTOW, FOREST GATE, E LONDON; ILFORD, SOUTH OCKENDON, ESSEX; PINNER, MIDDX.
A broker accused of helping to run a £19m sub-prime mortgage con claimed today (Tue) he was also ‘deceived’ by the set-up.Businessman Brad Fisher, 44, helped swindle millions in an elaborate scam in which construction giant Persimmon Homes played an ‘instrumental’ role, it is claimed.
A broker accused of helping to run a £19m sub-prime mortgage con claimed today (Tue) he was also ‘deceived’ by the set-up.
Businessman Brad Fisher, 44, helped swindle millions in an elaborate scam in which construction giant Persimmon Homes played an ‘instrumental’ role, it is claimed.
Alim Barry, the alleged mastermind of the scam, fled the country with most of the cash and has not been seen since.
Barry and his cousin Mohammed Barrie made huge profits when they bought an entire block of flats from Persimmon at a knock-down price before selling on the individual properties, it is alleged.
Prosecutors say the fraudsters created dozens of fake financial histories for their ‘buyers’ so their mortgage applications would be approved.
Fisher, who owns and runs mortgage broker firm The Money Superstore, or TMS, allegedly submitted vastly inflated valuations for the flats to High Street banks.
He duped the lenders into handing over far more than the properties were worth to borrowers who had no hope of repaying the money, it is said.
The crooks then pocketed the profits - estimated at £3.5m.
But Fisher denied any complicity in the illegal activity, claiming he was ‘deceived.'
Fisher had a meeting with Barry to a business deal involving mortgages for Persimmon Homes, the court heard.
Prosecutor Richard Mandel asked: ‘So is the position that your discussion with Alim Barry left you with the impression that you would be dealing with clients who were buying property from Persimmon Homes?’
‘That was the impression I was given,’ Fisher replied.
‘I now know that it was not the position.’
The court has heard Alim Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the 84 flats from Persimmon for £15.25m and sold them for £18.75m - a profit of £3.5m.
Barry then employed his cousin to recruit ‘dupes’ from within the Sierra Leonean community to act as mortgage applicants for the flats in Thamesmead, South East London.
It is claimed he and others promised the ‘buyers’ that they could get a luxury flat without paying any deposit, presenting them with detailed prospectuses to persuade them to sign up.
One applicant was even recruited as he queued for groceries in the supermarket, it is said.25 of these ‘dupes’ were sent to Fisher to fill in bogus mortgage applications, it is claimed.
Mr Mandel asked: ‘As far as the impression you received was the impression you were meant to be receiving, you were deceived?’ Fisher answered: ‘That’s correct.’
All mortgage payments for the flats were made by Barry and members of his family, the jury was told. ‘He never told me that,' said Fisher.
‘If I discovered he deceived me about that I would have notified the appropriate authorities and stopped working with him.’
The prosecutor said: ‘In fact you knew exactly what the picture was, didn’t you? All along?’ ‘No, I didn’t. No’, the broker denied.‘I never knew the real seller was Alim Barry.’
Fisher never knew the claims he submitted were false, he told the jury.
He said: ‘I have never willingly or knowingly submitted any false documents or any false income references to any lender at any time.’
Shaun Hammond, defending, asked: ‘Have you ever knowingly submitted anything false to a lender?’
Fisher replied: ‘Never in my entire professional career have I knowingly or willingly provided any false documents to any lender or professional institution.
‘I never had any flats repossessed or houses repossessed from any customers or any blemishes against me from the FSA or any complaints or anything.’
Accountant Stuart Joseph, 43, has admitted inventing financial references for fraudulent mortgage applicants, the court heard.
But Fisher again denied knowing the financial references were false.
Alongside Fisher in the dock are Mohammed, 39, and Muctaru Barrie, 29, mortgage valuers Brad Fisher, 44, George Sourou, 43, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, accountant Dean Dairo, 48, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Mr Mandel told the court that staff at Persimmon were ‘instrumental’ in creating inflated valuations for the flats so that mortgage lenders would part with more cash.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting.
The trial continues
ENDS
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 12:21 PM
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Another lame reply from a lame leader of a dishonest council...
Here is George Dunning latest reply to my email. Once again, he dodges the issues and this time, presumably because his ineptitude and dishonesty have been posted on this site for all to see, he starts to denegrate.
Is this the kind of behaviour that you would expect from the leader of a Local Authority especially when he has been shown time and time again to have been in charge of a council that basically, according to the SFO, should be investigated by the Police.
Here is his latest response with my reply to him...
Hi Chris
Totally sums you up, below Chris, totally untrustworthy.
All you want to do is discredit people.
? Can you sum Chris McGlade in one word = untrustworthy.
Regards,
George
Hello George,
You call for your ex CEO's investigation twice but then let him leave the council on the grounds of ill health, with over £360,000 of public money, without so much as a question asked, for him to turn up working for Cumbria council just months later?
You paint a false image to the public in the press about the village green process being over when in reality, you were aware all along that the process was not over because the council itself had notified solicitors that they intended to take the issue to Judicial Review themselves?
You don't do anything about the fact that your ex CEO and finance officer surpress an audit report in order to lie about the councils star rating?
You fail to do anything about the fact that the ex CEO was pushing the inclusion of a 5GP surgery as part of the Coatham Scheme whilst his wife was pushing it as a board member of the PCT and that there was a massive conflict of interests but you could only bring yourself to describe it as naughty?
You spend millions of pounds of public money assisting the efforts of a private developer who just so happens to have been found as being instrumental in a multi million pound mortgage fraud in a british crown court?
You support an MP who was behaved shockingly in the expenses scandal and who persuaded members of the public to stand for groups in elections other than the Labour group against Labour candidates?
You allow council officers to bring the council down into disrepute in tribunal after tribunal and yet take no action whatsoever infact you have another cabinet member defend them in the press when the officer should have been sacked.
And you pledge to take the Coatham scheme back to the drawing board, brand the planning process tainted and announce in the press that the consultation has been inadequate before the local elections but then after the election when you have secured power again, you give the scheme cross party backing, tell people in the press that the scheme is excellent, announce in the press that the councils consultation shows that the silent majority are in favour of the scheme and then spend tens of thousands of pounds defending the same planning process at Judicial Review that you had described as tainted and which you said in the press, after the council had been found to have been unlawful, that you had known all along to be unlawful and you call me untrustworthy George for letting people know the truth about how the leader of a local authority fails to respond to direct questions?
If I were you George I'd examine all the things that you have allowed the guilty in the council to get away with and I'd examine your own untrustworthy actions before you start levelling that accusation at anyone. If I were you George, I'd do the right thing and resign because to be perfectly honest you are an absolute disgrace and should have been sacked long ago because your record as leader shows that not only are you dishonest, you have no control of the council whatsoever.
The officers are running rings round you mate, they did it to your predecessors. They are laughing at you all and it is the public who are suffering because of it.
Peace,
Chris.
Is this the kind of behaviour that you would expect from the leader of a Local Authority especially when he has been shown time and time again to have been in charge of a council that basically, according to the SFO, should be investigated by the Police.
Here is his latest response with my reply to him...
Hi Chris
Totally sums you up, below Chris, totally untrustworthy.
All you want to do is discredit people.
? Can you sum Chris McGlade in one word = untrustworthy.
Regards,
George
Hello George,
You call for your ex CEO's investigation twice but then let him leave the council on the grounds of ill health, with over £360,000 of public money, without so much as a question asked, for him to turn up working for Cumbria council just months later?
You paint a false image to the public in the press about the village green process being over when in reality, you were aware all along that the process was not over because the council itself had notified solicitors that they intended to take the issue to Judicial Review themselves?
You don't do anything about the fact that your ex CEO and finance officer surpress an audit report in order to lie about the councils star rating?
You fail to do anything about the fact that the ex CEO was pushing the inclusion of a 5GP surgery as part of the Coatham Scheme whilst his wife was pushing it as a board member of the PCT and that there was a massive conflict of interests but you could only bring yourself to describe it as naughty?
You spend millions of pounds of public money assisting the efforts of a private developer who just so happens to have been found as being instrumental in a multi million pound mortgage fraud in a british crown court?
You support an MP who was behaved shockingly in the expenses scandal and who persuaded members of the public to stand for groups in elections other than the Labour group against Labour candidates?
You allow council officers to bring the council down into disrepute in tribunal after tribunal and yet take no action whatsoever infact you have another cabinet member defend them in the press when the officer should have been sacked.
And you pledge to take the Coatham scheme back to the drawing board, brand the planning process tainted and announce in the press that the consultation has been inadequate before the local elections but then after the election when you have secured power again, you give the scheme cross party backing, tell people in the press that the scheme is excellent, announce in the press that the councils consultation shows that the silent majority are in favour of the scheme and then spend tens of thousands of pounds defending the same planning process at Judicial Review that you had described as tainted and which you said in the press, after the council had been found to have been unlawful, that you had known all along to be unlawful and you call me untrustworthy George for letting people know the truth about how the leader of a local authority fails to respond to direct questions?
If I were you George I'd examine all the things that you have allowed the guilty in the council to get away with and I'd examine your own untrustworthy actions before you start levelling that accusation at anyone. If I were you George, I'd do the right thing and resign because to be perfectly honest you are an absolute disgrace and should have been sacked long ago because your record as leader shows that not only are you dishonest, you have no control of the council whatsoever.
The officers are running rings round you mate, they did it to your predecessors. They are laughing at you all and it is the public who are suffering because of it.
Peace,
Chris.
I'll tell you what George, you may think that I'm untrustworthy for posting your replies on this site, but as long as you continue to let these abuses go unchecked and uninvestigated, whilst you allow the guilty to get away with those abuses, then I'll continue to shed light on the actions of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and their ineptitude and deceit and their wasting of public money every step of the way...
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 11:55 AM
Answers on a postcard...
Ive just looked at the latest court report taken from the Multi Million pound mortgage fraud case in Thamesmead in London and I took more notice of this sentence...
"Mr Mandel told the court that staff at Persimmon were ‘instrumental’ in creating inflated valuations for the flats so that mortgage lenders would part with more cash".
I wonder what Persimmon Homes did to persuade Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council pay Persimmons' legal fees and consultancy fees, something that isn't the councils responsibility, to the tune of approximately £143,000? I wonder what they did to persuade the council to erect a fence around the Coatham Enclosure on their behalf to the tune, at the last count of £48,000 and I wonder what they did to persuade the council to become financial liable for a multi million pound sea defence, that is Persimmons' sole responsibility if they want to build houses on a zone 3 high flood risk area?
What have Persimmon done or said to our council, for the council 'to part' with millions of pounds of public cash on behalf of Persimmon homes? Are local authorities supposed to take on massive financial burdens to the tax payer, that are not their responsibility, and which benefit a developer massively?
Answers on a post card please.
"Mr Mandel told the court that staff at Persimmon were ‘instrumental’ in creating inflated valuations for the flats so that mortgage lenders would part with more cash".
I wonder what Persimmon Homes did to persuade Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council pay Persimmons' legal fees and consultancy fees, something that isn't the councils responsibility, to the tune of approximately £143,000? I wonder what they did to persuade the council to erect a fence around the Coatham Enclosure on their behalf to the tune, at the last count of £48,000 and I wonder what they did to persuade the council to become financial liable for a multi million pound sea defence, that is Persimmons' sole responsibility if they want to build houses on a zone 3 high flood risk area?
What have Persimmon done or said to our council, for the council 'to part' with millions of pounds of public cash on behalf of Persimmon homes? Are local authorities supposed to take on massive financial burdens to the tax payer, that are not their responsibility, and which benefit a developer massively?
Answers on a post card please.
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 5:55 AM
Last night at four minutes past nine...
Last night at four minutes past nine, I received this unexpected email from the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, George Dunning.
Dear Chris,
Seems that R&CBC's dealings with Persimmon Homes are fine. District Auditor paid a visit last week on various issues. Nothing to say on Persimmons Chris. Appears the Development agreement signed under the Coalition is fine also.We hope to carry on developing the site after the successful boating lakeand Mo mosaic opening last week.
Regards,
George.
It is obvious that the council, perhaps even George himself, monitors this site as the timing of his response following the posting that I made yesterday, was absolutely perfect. I sent this response at around midnight...
Hello George,
I would have got back to you earlier but I havent been at the computer because I've been engrossed in the X Factor!
However, it's strange that I make a posting on my blog about a lack of a response from you regarding Persimmon being involved in a multi million pound fraud in Thamesmead and then later that evening you send me a reply? With timing like that, you should be a comedian!
A few things though, you say everything is fine with Persimmon because the District Auditor didn't mention them, but there again, the District Auditor didn't mention the final financial audit report that Moore and Richardson surpressed and then, after colluding with someone within the Audit Commission, replaced with another 'final' report that was more to Mr Moores and Mr Richardsons liking, so I wouldn't put any weight on Persimmon not being mentioned by the Auditor. But that wasn't what I asked, or for that matter, brought to your attention.
What I brought to your attention was that it has been established in a British Crown Court, that your preferred developer for the Coatham Scheme, have been found to have been instrumental in a multi million pound mortgage fraud and is this the kind of company that Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council should be dealing with? Do you think that it is right that as Mark Hannon said in the paper just this week, three million pounds of public money should have been spent aiding Persimmon in trying to start this scheme, when they have been involved in fraudulent activity with more public money being spent on things that are Persimmons' sole responsibility, to come?
Finally George, you state that the Development Agreement is fine. It may be legal George, we were informed at the JR or at the appeal stage that the Development Agreement was legal, but the legality of the Development Agreement is also not the issue here.
If the council had nothing to hide or be ashamed about, then why has the council done all that it can to stop that development agreement being shown to anyone? The council even resisted it being shown to a high court. I have a copy of a Gazette Letters page from a year or so ago, where you, in response to Councilor Valerie Halton, blamed the signing of the Coatham Development on the coalition that she was a part of when you said that it was the old Coalition and not the new Labour group who had signed the Coatham Development Agreement.Why would you apportion the blame for signing that Agreement if was something to be so proud of?
If it doesn't contain anything that won't cause concern to ordinary members of the public, then as with the barristers opinion, just show it. Don't hide behind commercial sensitivity or anything like that, disclose it to the public afterall, it's their money that is being spent. How can commercial sensitivity come into play now? I can understand you not showing anyone the Development Agreement because of commercial sensitivity when the scheme was in its early stages but not now, a few months after you had stated publicly that you were going to start work in July or August.
The councils commercial sensitivity argument doesn't hold any water anymore.
I'll tell you what, as you know I'm at Tribunal next week over the issue of the councils responses to me under the FOI act regarding the council being liable for the sea defence as part of the Coatham Scheme, something that is Persimmons' sole responsibility.
To save a whole lot of time and expense I am asking you now officially, as leader of the council George, to order the disclosure of the Coatham Development Agreement to the Tribunal and myself as I am acting on my own behalf, and lets see exactly what the council have committed public money to?
You claim to be open and transparent, well put that into practise and disclose that document to the tribunal and to me at the oral hearing next week.
I look forward to your response,
Peace,
Chris.
I thought, seeing as how the council are supposed to have adopted a policy of openness and transparency, that I would have had a detailed response but this morning, instead, I received this...
Thanks Chris,
You would say that Chris, never mind.
Rgs.
George.
So I sent this reply...
Hello George,
Your email was hardly the response that I was expecting? I mean, you said absolutely nothing about Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council funding, and being involved with, a developer that has been shown in a British Crown Court to have been instrumental in a major, multi million pound fraud, you said absolutely nothing about the fact that it has been shown that your ex-CEO and Finance officer surpressed a final financial audit report that showed the council weren't a four star authority and then replaced it, with the assistance of someone in the Audit Commission, with another 'final' report that showed the council were a four star authority and you made no mention whatsoever of disclosing the Coatham Development Agreement to the forthcoming tribunal and myself in the interests of transparency and openness, let alone acknowledge my official request that you do so.
I'll make sure that when the newsletter goes out to the whole of Redcar, highlighting the Councils association with and funding of, a developer who has been 'instumental' in such a massive fraud, that your glib response to such serious, documented issues, is known.
Peace,
Chris.
Dear Chris,
Seems that R&CBC's dealings with Persimmon Homes are fine. District Auditor paid a visit last week on various issues. Nothing to say on Persimmons Chris. Appears the Development agreement signed under the Coalition is fine also.We hope to carry on developing the site after the successful boating lakeand Mo mosaic opening last week.
Regards,
George.
It is obvious that the council, perhaps even George himself, monitors this site as the timing of his response following the posting that I made yesterday, was absolutely perfect. I sent this response at around midnight...
Hello George,
I would have got back to you earlier but I havent been at the computer because I've been engrossed in the X Factor!
However, it's strange that I make a posting on my blog about a lack of a response from you regarding Persimmon being involved in a multi million pound fraud in Thamesmead and then later that evening you send me a reply? With timing like that, you should be a comedian!
A few things though, you say everything is fine with Persimmon because the District Auditor didn't mention them, but there again, the District Auditor didn't mention the final financial audit report that Moore and Richardson surpressed and then, after colluding with someone within the Audit Commission, replaced with another 'final' report that was more to Mr Moores and Mr Richardsons liking, so I wouldn't put any weight on Persimmon not being mentioned by the Auditor. But that wasn't what I asked, or for that matter, brought to your attention.
What I brought to your attention was that it has been established in a British Crown Court, that your preferred developer for the Coatham Scheme, have been found to have been instrumental in a multi million pound mortgage fraud and is this the kind of company that Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council should be dealing with? Do you think that it is right that as Mark Hannon said in the paper just this week, three million pounds of public money should have been spent aiding Persimmon in trying to start this scheme, when they have been involved in fraudulent activity with more public money being spent on things that are Persimmons' sole responsibility, to come?
Finally George, you state that the Development Agreement is fine. It may be legal George, we were informed at the JR or at the appeal stage that the Development Agreement was legal, but the legality of the Development Agreement is also not the issue here.
If the council had nothing to hide or be ashamed about, then why has the council done all that it can to stop that development agreement being shown to anyone? The council even resisted it being shown to a high court. I have a copy of a Gazette Letters page from a year or so ago, where you, in response to Councilor Valerie Halton, blamed the signing of the Coatham Development on the coalition that she was a part of when you said that it was the old Coalition and not the new Labour group who had signed the Coatham Development Agreement.Why would you apportion the blame for signing that Agreement if was something to be so proud of?
If it doesn't contain anything that won't cause concern to ordinary members of the public, then as with the barristers opinion, just show it. Don't hide behind commercial sensitivity or anything like that, disclose it to the public afterall, it's their money that is being spent. How can commercial sensitivity come into play now? I can understand you not showing anyone the Development Agreement because of commercial sensitivity when the scheme was in its early stages but not now, a few months after you had stated publicly that you were going to start work in July or August.
The councils commercial sensitivity argument doesn't hold any water anymore.
I'll tell you what, as you know I'm at Tribunal next week over the issue of the councils responses to me under the FOI act regarding the council being liable for the sea defence as part of the Coatham Scheme, something that is Persimmons' sole responsibility.
To save a whole lot of time and expense I am asking you now officially, as leader of the council George, to order the disclosure of the Coatham Development Agreement to the Tribunal and myself as I am acting on my own behalf, and lets see exactly what the council have committed public money to?
You claim to be open and transparent, well put that into practise and disclose that document to the tribunal and to me at the oral hearing next week.
I look forward to your response,
Peace,
Chris.
I thought, seeing as how the council are supposed to have adopted a policy of openness and transparency, that I would have had a detailed response but this morning, instead, I received this...
Thanks Chris,
You would say that Chris, never mind.
Rgs.
George.
So I sent this reply...
Hello George,
Your email was hardly the response that I was expecting? I mean, you said absolutely nothing about Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council funding, and being involved with, a developer that has been shown in a British Crown Court to have been instrumental in a major, multi million pound fraud, you said absolutely nothing about the fact that it has been shown that your ex-CEO and Finance officer surpressed a final financial audit report that showed the council weren't a four star authority and then replaced it, with the assistance of someone in the Audit Commission, with another 'final' report that showed the council were a four star authority and you made no mention whatsoever of disclosing the Coatham Development Agreement to the forthcoming tribunal and myself in the interests of transparency and openness, let alone acknowledge my official request that you do so.
I'll make sure that when the newsletter goes out to the whole of Redcar, highlighting the Councils association with and funding of, a developer who has been 'instumental' in such a massive fraud, that your glib response to such serious, documented issues, is known.
Peace,
Chris.
It seems that this councils adopted policy of transparency and openness only applies to the things that want to be open and transparent about and they only want to comment on the things that they can claim some credit for. I've just been watching the politics show and there was a feature on council magazines being used to only put across what they want the public to know, not what is actually happening and that behaving in this manner is actually against the rules. I immediately cast my mind back to the time that the council were found guilty in a high court of having an unlawful Coatham planning meeting, of being found negligent by the audit commission for investing money in Icelandic banks against advice, of being found guilty of maladministration twice within six months and how in all of these cases not one word was mentioned in their council magazine?
I then remembered how both George Dunning and Mark Hannon had both made out in the press in early 2008, that the Coatham Village green issue was over and that we were beaten when in truth, the council had actually informed opposition solicitors that it was the councils intention to apply for an expedited rolled up hearing, something that the campaigners wanted themselves, before the press release went out. Dunning and Hannon were quite happy to paint a picture that suited them and they did not tell the truth to the people of this area in the press.
This downright failure to answer the questions and tell the truth is symptomatic in politics in this country and it was never more on display than in Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.
They are an absolute disgrace and I will make sure that the public of this area know that this council have, and still are, funding a developer who have been found to have been 'instrumental' in a multi million pound mortgage fraud in an ongoing case in a British Crown Court, no matter how much Mr Dunning and his band of merry men try to evade the issue.
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 4:27 AM
Saturday, October 31, 2009
And still the leader of the council hasn't responded...
When this story came to light, I emailed George Dunning bringing this to his attention to the details about Persimmon homes instrumental involvement in the multi million pound mortgage fraud which had taken place in Thamesmead and which is being heard at Southwark Crown Court and asking him why our council was involving itself with a developer involved in such a scandal to such a large degree? He said that he would make further investigations. Despite having emailed him a couple more times, he still hasn't made any further comment about his investigations and what he intends to do about it.
It makes you wonder if he really wants to?
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council are In bed up to their necks with Persimmon Homes PLC.
They have, as Councilor Mark Hannon admitted in the press this week, spent THREE MILLION POUNDS OF PUBLIC MONEY assisting Persimmon Homes PLC in trying and get the Coatham scheme started. They have spent public money on things on behalf of Persimmon Homes, thet they should never have spent public money on. They are liable for the cost of a multi million pound sea defence which has to be built as part of the Coatham scheme and which is Persimmon Homes' sole responsibility. They have done all of this and spent all of that public money and are going to spend even more public money on a developer who involve themselves in multi million pound mortgage frauds.
Would you give your money to a dodgy car dealer? Of course you wouldn't. So why on earth is our council giving millions of pounds of public money to a developer who has been instrumental in a multi million pound fraud?
I wonder what the people of Redcar and Cleveland will think when they read this in our next news letter?
October 30, 2009
DARTFORD, KENT
An estate agent accused of helping to run a £19m sub-prime mortgage con told his trial he just wanted to help people ‘get on the property ladder’.
Sierra Leonian immigrant Mohammed Barrie, 38, helped swindle millions in an elaborate scam in which construction giant Persimmon Homes played an ‘instrumental’ role, it is claimed.
Barrie’s gang made huge profits when they bought an entire block of flats from Persimmon at a knock-down price before selling on the individual properties, it is alleged.
Prosecutors say the fraudsters created dozens of fake financial histories for their ‘buyers’ so their mortgage applications would be approved.
They also submitted vastly inflated valuations for the flats, duping High Street lenders into handing over far more than the properties were worth to borrowers who had no hope of repaying the money.
The crooks then pocketed the profits - estimated as being at least £3.5m.
Barrie’s cousin Alim Barry who is the alleged mastermind of the scam fled the country with most of the cash and has not been seen since.
Mohammed Barrie told Southwark Crown Court that he thought he was working legitimately for his cousin.
Prosecutors say his role in the scam was to recruit ‘dupes’ from within the Sierra Leonean community to act as mortgage applicants for the flats in Thamesmead, South East London.
It is claimed he and others promised the ‘buyers’ that they could get a luxury flat without paying any deposit, presenting them with detailed prospectuses to persuade them to sign up.
One applicant was even recruited as he queued for groceries in the supermarket, it is said.
Barrie was paid at least £160,000 for five months work for his part in the scam, it is claimed.
But the defendant told the court that the clients would approach him themselves, usually at his local mosque after Friday prayers.
He said: ‘That’s where we met and they asked me if I could help them get on the property ladder.
‘They knew the relationship between Alim and me. They knew Alim was my cousin, and they knew I would introduce them to Alim as well.’
He added: ‘Alim approached me and says he’s buying property off plan, and asks if I can assist in introducing purchasers to him.‘That’s exactly what I did.
‘And he would give me commission on that for each introduction.’
Prosecutor Richard Mandel asked him: ‘You didn’t have to do any selling job at all, if I’m following you, and for that you got a very large sum of money.
‘Or is the position that you were engaging in fraud and the large sum of money, however large it was, was your cut of the fraud?’
The defendant replied: ‘No sir, it was not. I had no knowledge of the fraud.’
Alongside Barrie in the dock are his brother Muctaru Barrie, 29, mortgage valuers Brad Fisher, 44, George Sourou, 43, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, accountant Dean Dairo, 48, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Accountant Stuart Joseph, 43, has admitted inventing financial references for fraudulent mortgage applicants, the court heard.
Mr Mandel told the court that staff at Persimmon were ‘instrumental’ in creating inflated valuations for the flats so that mortgage lenders would part with more cash.
The court has heard Alim Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the 84 flats from Persimmon for £15.25m and sold them for £18.75m - a profit of £3.5m.
Alim Barry also owned rental properties in Leeds and Manchester, jurors heard.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting.
The trial continues.
ENDS
It makes you wonder if he really wants to?
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council are In bed up to their necks with Persimmon Homes PLC.
They have, as Councilor Mark Hannon admitted in the press this week, spent THREE MILLION POUNDS OF PUBLIC MONEY assisting Persimmon Homes PLC in trying and get the Coatham scheme started. They have spent public money on things on behalf of Persimmon Homes, thet they should never have spent public money on. They are liable for the cost of a multi million pound sea defence which has to be built as part of the Coatham scheme and which is Persimmon Homes' sole responsibility. They have done all of this and spent all of that public money and are going to spend even more public money on a developer who involve themselves in multi million pound mortgage frauds.
Would you give your money to a dodgy car dealer? Of course you wouldn't. So why on earth is our council giving millions of pounds of public money to a developer who has been instrumental in a multi million pound fraud?
I wonder what the people of Redcar and Cleveland will think when they read this in our next news letter?
October 30, 2009
DARTFORD, KENT
An estate agent accused of helping to run a £19m sub-prime mortgage con told his trial he just wanted to help people ‘get on the property ladder’.
Sierra Leonian immigrant Mohammed Barrie, 38, helped swindle millions in an elaborate scam in which construction giant Persimmon Homes played an ‘instrumental’ role, it is claimed.
Barrie’s gang made huge profits when they bought an entire block of flats from Persimmon at a knock-down price before selling on the individual properties, it is alleged.
Prosecutors say the fraudsters created dozens of fake financial histories for their ‘buyers’ so their mortgage applications would be approved.
They also submitted vastly inflated valuations for the flats, duping High Street lenders into handing over far more than the properties were worth to borrowers who had no hope of repaying the money.
The crooks then pocketed the profits - estimated as being at least £3.5m.
Barrie’s cousin Alim Barry who is the alleged mastermind of the scam fled the country with most of the cash and has not been seen since.
Mohammed Barrie told Southwark Crown Court that he thought he was working legitimately for his cousin.
Prosecutors say his role in the scam was to recruit ‘dupes’ from within the Sierra Leonean community to act as mortgage applicants for the flats in Thamesmead, South East London.
It is claimed he and others promised the ‘buyers’ that they could get a luxury flat without paying any deposit, presenting them with detailed prospectuses to persuade them to sign up.
One applicant was even recruited as he queued for groceries in the supermarket, it is said.
Barrie was paid at least £160,000 for five months work for his part in the scam, it is claimed.
But the defendant told the court that the clients would approach him themselves, usually at his local mosque after Friday prayers.
He said: ‘That’s where we met and they asked me if I could help them get on the property ladder.
‘They knew the relationship between Alim and me. They knew Alim was my cousin, and they knew I would introduce them to Alim as well.’
He added: ‘Alim approached me and says he’s buying property off plan, and asks if I can assist in introducing purchasers to him.‘That’s exactly what I did.
‘And he would give me commission on that for each introduction.’
Prosecutor Richard Mandel asked him: ‘You didn’t have to do any selling job at all, if I’m following you, and for that you got a very large sum of money.
‘Or is the position that you were engaging in fraud and the large sum of money, however large it was, was your cut of the fraud?’
The defendant replied: ‘No sir, it was not. I had no knowledge of the fraud.’
Alongside Barrie in the dock are his brother Muctaru Barrie, 29, mortgage valuers Brad Fisher, 44, George Sourou, 43, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, accountant Dean Dairo, 48, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Accountant Stuart Joseph, 43, has admitted inventing financial references for fraudulent mortgage applicants, the court heard.
Mr Mandel told the court that staff at Persimmon were ‘instrumental’ in creating inflated valuations for the flats so that mortgage lenders would part with more cash.
The court has heard Alim Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the 84 flats from Persimmon for £15.25m and sold them for £18.75m - a profit of £3.5m.
Alim Barry also owned rental properties in Leeds and Manchester, jurors heard.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting.
The trial continues.
ENDS
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 5:51 AM
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Persimmon..associating themselves with corrupted accountants and mortgage lenders? And they're our councils 'preferred developer'? DISGRACEFUL!
Here is the latest story in the multi million pound fraud case that Persimmon were 'instrumental' in.
DARTFORD, ILFORD, WALTHAMSTOW. A crooked accountant has described how he was paid £100 a time to sign off false income statements by a gang of mortgage fraudsters. Stuart Roberts, 43, had ‘never heard’ of his supposed clients when he rubber stamped their financial records, a court heard.
A crooked accountant has described how he was paid £100 a time to sign off false income statements by a gang of mortgage fraudsters.
Stuart Roberts, 43, had ‘never heard’ of his supposed clients when he rubber stamped their financial records, a court heard.
Prosecutors say the accountant was employed by a gang of conmen as part of an elaborate scheme to swindle nearly £19m out of High Street mortgage lenders involving builders Persimmon Homes
Mastermind Alim Barry and his henchmen skimmed off profits of £3.5m by ‘selling’ dozens of luxury flats to penniless dupes, it is said.
Staff at Persimmon Homes – which built the flats and sold them to Barry – are said to have been ‘instrumental’ in the scam.
Barry fled abroad with much of the cash and has not been seen since, leaving his associates to face trial.
Jurors have heard the gang used a network of corrupt mortgage brokers, accountants and solicitors to create new financial histories for their ‘buyers’ so that banks would loan them the cash.
At Southwark Crown Court today, Roberts, who has admitted false accounting, described how he was paid to invent financial histories for potential mortgage applicants.
He said applicants’ details were faxed to him from two different mortgage valuing firms, the Direct Mortgage Centre (DMC) and The Money Superstore (TMS).
Brad Fisher, 44, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, who both worked at TMS, and George Sourou, 43, of DMC, conspired with Barry to defraud lenders, it is claimed.
Asked how much he would have been paid for providing a years’ worth of fake accounts, Roberts told the court: ‘I would probably have got £100 for each year.
Pointing to one reference, in which he claimed an applicant had earned £81,205 in one year, he said: ‘I didn't want to make it a round figure, because that would look suspicious.
He also told the court he had ‘never heard’ of his supposed clients before.
In the dock alongside Fisher, Sourou and Ahmed are barry’s cousins Mohammed, 39, and Muctaru Barrie, 29, accountant Dean Dairo, 48, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Another Barrie brother, Umaru, also fled the country while on bail.
The court heard Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the fats from Persimmon for £15.25m and sold them for £18.75m – a profit of £3.5m.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting – six relating to TMS and one to DMC.
The trial continues.
ENDS
DARTFORD, ILFORD, WALTHAMSTOW. A crooked accountant has described how he was paid £100 a time to sign off false income statements by a gang of mortgage fraudsters. Stuart Roberts, 43, had ‘never heard’ of his supposed clients when he rubber stamped their financial records, a court heard.
A crooked accountant has described how he was paid £100 a time to sign off false income statements by a gang of mortgage fraudsters.
Stuart Roberts, 43, had ‘never heard’ of his supposed clients when he rubber stamped their financial records, a court heard.
Prosecutors say the accountant was employed by a gang of conmen as part of an elaborate scheme to swindle nearly £19m out of High Street mortgage lenders involving builders Persimmon Homes
Mastermind Alim Barry and his henchmen skimmed off profits of £3.5m by ‘selling’ dozens of luxury flats to penniless dupes, it is said.
Staff at Persimmon Homes – which built the flats and sold them to Barry – are said to have been ‘instrumental’ in the scam.
Barry fled abroad with much of the cash and has not been seen since, leaving his associates to face trial.
Jurors have heard the gang used a network of corrupt mortgage brokers, accountants and solicitors to create new financial histories for their ‘buyers’ so that banks would loan them the cash.
At Southwark Crown Court today, Roberts, who has admitted false accounting, described how he was paid to invent financial histories for potential mortgage applicants.
He said applicants’ details were faxed to him from two different mortgage valuing firms, the Direct Mortgage Centre (DMC) and The Money Superstore (TMS).
Brad Fisher, 44, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, who both worked at TMS, and George Sourou, 43, of DMC, conspired with Barry to defraud lenders, it is claimed.
Asked how much he would have been paid for providing a years’ worth of fake accounts, Roberts told the court: ‘I would probably have got £100 for each year.
Pointing to one reference, in which he claimed an applicant had earned £81,205 in one year, he said: ‘I didn't want to make it a round figure, because that would look suspicious.
He also told the court he had ‘never heard’ of his supposed clients before.
In the dock alongside Fisher, Sourou and Ahmed are barry’s cousins Mohammed, 39, and Muctaru Barrie, 29, accountant Dean Dairo, 48, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Another Barrie brother, Umaru, also fled the country while on bail.
The court heard Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the fats from Persimmon for £15.25m and sold them for £18.75m – a profit of £3.5m.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting – six relating to TMS and one to DMC.
The trial continues.
ENDS
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 3:02 AM
Thursday, October 15, 2009
It's time for sneaky Baird and her sneaky local authority to be investigated..
I've just been in the Co-op. Standing there in the queue to be served, I noticed a pile of Evening Gazettes. The headline referred to two Teesside MP's refusing to give details about the letters that they had received from Sir Thomas Legg regarding the paying back of monies that they had had no right to claim for in the first place as the things that they had claimed for, had nothing at all to do with their jobs as MP's. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2009/10/15/two-teesside-mps-refuse-to-reveal-expenses-letters-84229-24937493/
Instinctively, without even reading the article and only seeing the headline from a distance, I knew that one of the MP's featured would be Vera Baird MP. Why did I know this?
I knew because of the secretive, underhanded, hypocritical way that she has behaved in regard to the Coatham Enclosure scheme. I knew it because on the morning in May 2007 that I phoned her and told her that an officer of the council without consent from the EA and without consulting them changed their planning condition regarding the construction of the sea defence in Coatham to benefit Persimmon Homes PLC, all she said to me was " Yeah well, they've got planning permission".
I knew this by the way she tried claiming for more than she was entitled to as a junior counsell years ago, never mind claiming for things as an MP that she was not entitled to.
I knew this by the way that she not only threatened Robert Goodwill MP into not calling for an independent investigation into the local authority in her constituency and into not showing our film in parliament 18 months ago, she wrongly threatened him by telling him she would report him to the speaker of the House when the speaker told us he had no jurisdiction outside the chamber. I knew it was her by the way that she put pressure on Mr Goodwill to pull his support right up to the day that he actually intervened in the affairs of the local authority in her constituency and showed the film in Parliament this year.
I knew that it was her because when she had stopped Robert Goodwill from calling for the independent investigation into her local authority 18 months ago, she then called for the council to hold an internal investigation to be headed by someone who was involved in the wrong doing within the council and who had been featured in Private Eye magazine three times for that behaviour.
I knew it was her by the way that she said the film "Coatham a Common Concern" was libellous but then took no legal action against it whatsoever, preferring instead to try and bully and threaten an elderly church warden by telephone into not showing it an hour or so before it was shown in Coatham church in May this year.
I knew it was her by the way that she spoke out publicly when the council and their Coatham Planning meeting was found in the High Court to have been unlawful, saying that she had known along with the Labour group that it had been unlawful all along, yet when the decision was overturned at appeal, she said nothing.
I knew that today's Gazette headline was about her because when Mr Goodwill actually did retract his support the day after he had intervened in her constituency and shown the film in Parliament and spoken out against her on local Radio, and just a few days after a major council whistleblower was paid off so his case would not go to tribunal and so air things that the council wanted to keep out of the public domain, she put out a joint statement with the council that said that the council had had claims of corruption within the council investigated by the police and the Audit Commission etc, when no such investigations had ever even taken place!
I knew it was her by the way that she encouraged people to stand as independent candidates in a local elections against Labour candidates, something that she should have been thrown out of the party for.
And I knew it because of what she said at the meeting with me and two other people in in Mrs Bridges cafe in 2006 where in response to me saying that I thought that someone may have taken a bung over the issue of Coatham she repiled that "everyone takes bungs, theres nothing new in that".
This woman is the Solicitor General of this Country. She is a senior member of this Government and as such she should be beyond reproach. She has proved herself to be less than trustworthy, less than honest and behaving in a way that is not befitting an MP never mind Solicitor General. It is high time that this woman and the local authority that she has tried her level best to protect and cover for, were investigated.
The Serious Fraud Office have already stated in writing that the council in her constituency should be investigated by the Police possibly assisted by the CPS, so why has she not heeded this or done anything about it why did she call for an internal investigation instead which was nothing more than a whitewash?
Lets have Vera Baird and her council and anyone else who has been heavily involved with them including Persimmon Homes PLC, who are already in the High Court for being 'instrumental' in a multi million pound mortgage fraud and who have been shown to have been involved in Coatham a year before it was even formerly advertised by the council as a leisure development NOT housing development, all investigated without further delay.
Instinctively, without even reading the article and only seeing the headline from a distance, I knew that one of the MP's featured would be Vera Baird MP. Why did I know this?
I knew because of the secretive, underhanded, hypocritical way that she has behaved in regard to the Coatham Enclosure scheme. I knew it because on the morning in May 2007 that I phoned her and told her that an officer of the council without consent from the EA and without consulting them changed their planning condition regarding the construction of the sea defence in Coatham to benefit Persimmon Homes PLC, all she said to me was " Yeah well, they've got planning permission".
I knew this by the way she tried claiming for more than she was entitled to as a junior counsell years ago, never mind claiming for things as an MP that she was not entitled to.
I knew this by the way that she not only threatened Robert Goodwill MP into not calling for an independent investigation into the local authority in her constituency and into not showing our film in parliament 18 months ago, she wrongly threatened him by telling him she would report him to the speaker of the House when the speaker told us he had no jurisdiction outside the chamber. I knew it was her by the way that she put pressure on Mr Goodwill to pull his support right up to the day that he actually intervened in the affairs of the local authority in her constituency and showed the film in Parliament this year.
I knew that it was her because when she had stopped Robert Goodwill from calling for the independent investigation into her local authority 18 months ago, she then called for the council to hold an internal investigation to be headed by someone who was involved in the wrong doing within the council and who had been featured in Private Eye magazine three times for that behaviour.
I knew it was her by the way that she said the film "Coatham a Common Concern" was libellous but then took no legal action against it whatsoever, preferring instead to try and bully and threaten an elderly church warden by telephone into not showing it an hour or so before it was shown in Coatham church in May this year.
I knew it was her by the way that she spoke out publicly when the council and their Coatham Planning meeting was found in the High Court to have been unlawful, saying that she had known along with the Labour group that it had been unlawful all along, yet when the decision was overturned at appeal, she said nothing.
I knew that today's Gazette headline was about her because when Mr Goodwill actually did retract his support the day after he had intervened in her constituency and shown the film in Parliament and spoken out against her on local Radio, and just a few days after a major council whistleblower was paid off so his case would not go to tribunal and so air things that the council wanted to keep out of the public domain, she put out a joint statement with the council that said that the council had had claims of corruption within the council investigated by the police and the Audit Commission etc, when no such investigations had ever even taken place!
I knew it was her by the way that she encouraged people to stand as independent candidates in a local elections against Labour candidates, something that she should have been thrown out of the party for.
And I knew it because of what she said at the meeting with me and two other people in in Mrs Bridges cafe in 2006 where in response to me saying that I thought that someone may have taken a bung over the issue of Coatham she repiled that "everyone takes bungs, theres nothing new in that".
This woman is the Solicitor General of this Country. She is a senior member of this Government and as such she should be beyond reproach. She has proved herself to be less than trustworthy, less than honest and behaving in a way that is not befitting an MP never mind Solicitor General. It is high time that this woman and the local authority that she has tried her level best to protect and cover for, were investigated.
The Serious Fraud Office have already stated in writing that the council in her constituency should be investigated by the Police possibly assisted by the CPS, so why has she not heeded this or done anything about it why did she call for an internal investigation instead which was nothing more than a whitewash?
Lets have Vera Baird and her council and anyone else who has been heavily involved with them including Persimmon Homes PLC, who are already in the High Court for being 'instrumental' in a multi million pound mortgage fraud and who have been shown to have been involved in Coatham a year before it was even formerly advertised by the council as a leisure development NOT housing development, all investigated without further delay.
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 5:39 AM
Friday, October 09, 2009
The smell gets stronger and stronger...
Here is the latest report from the court case taking place at Southwark Crown Court regarding the multi million pound mortgage fraud that Persimmon homes were 'instrumental' in. With such a large involvement in this scandal, why were Persimmon homes not investigated and why were charges not brought against them?
Full Report –
October 07, 2009
PINNER, WALTHAMSTOW, SOUTH OCKENDON
Senior managers at one of Britain’s biggest homebuilders knew of problems in a deal to sell a block of flats to an accused mortgage fraudster but still went ahead with it, a court heard today (Wed).
Under the terms of the deal, Persimmon Homes sold 84 brand new apartments to Alim Barry – a Sierra Leonean national now said to have swindled millions out of high-street lenders.
Prosecutors say Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the flats for £15.25m before selling them on at inflated prices to buyers who had fraudulent mortages.
Barry and his accomplices used a network of crooked brokers, accountants and solicitors to create fake financial histories for these applicants and dupe the banks, it is claimed.
The conman has since fled the country with the profits of the scam, after swindling lenders into handing over a total £18.75m in loans, Southwark Crown Court has heard.
Although the firm is not accused of any crime, it is claimed that Persimmon was ‘instrumental’ in allowing the fraud to take place.
Persimmon solicitor Nick Knight told the court he helped draw up the deal Barry made in 2006 to buy the Hill House block in Thamesmead, South East London.
He said Atrex paid an initial deposit of £250,000 on the building, and paid the rest of the cash as the subsequent mortgage deals went through on individual flats.
Mr Knight told the court he had inserted a clause in the contract stating that if Barry did not make the payments with a set timeframe, Persimmon would be entitled to keep his deposit and offer Hill House to other buyers.
But he said that although senior managers in the company’s South East division were aware Barry was missing these deadlines, they decided to continue with the deal.
He named chairman Brendan O’Neill, managing director Edward Owens and sales director Jason Stokes as among those who were allegedly aware of the decision.
Mr Justin Cole, defending Dean Dairo, an accountant accused of helping Barry commit the fraud, asked Mr Knight why Persimmon did not simply terminate the contract.
He said: ‘You tried to protect the position of Persimmon by inserting a clause which meant that if Alim Barry was late, Persimmon could have just walked away with his deposit.
‘We have seen that what in fact happened was the absolute opposite.
‘What in fact they did was tie themselves around the waist of Mr Barry and his selling on of the flats.
‘Who made the decision to wait until then before receiving the money?’
Mr Knight replied: ‘The decision not to terminate the contract would have hinged on how the management of Persimmon South East viewed market conditions at the time.’
He named Mr Stokes and Mr O’Neill as among those who would have been involved in the decision.
Mr Cole added: ‘It would be a nonsense to suggest that Mr Owens, the managing director, would have been ignorant of what was going on.
‘The completions were happening whenever Atrex chose to send money.
‘I think we are agreed that Mr Owens must have known what was going on. And of course Mr Stokes himself.’
The solicitor replied: ‘Yes.’
Mr Knight told the court that another senior Persimmon executive, Nick Thomas, had looked at alternative buyers for the flats.
He said: ‘I think at some stage of the transaction, Mr Thomas to go back and investigate the possibility of going elsewhere.
‘I've seen in the bundle something to the effect that they had another interested party, but couldn't get as much money as under the current Atrex deal.’
In the dock alongside Dairo are Barry’s cousins Mohammed, 39, and Muctaru Barrie, 29, mortgage valuers Brad Fisher, 44, George Sourou, 43, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting.
The trial continues.
ENDS
Full Report –
October 07, 2009
PINNER, WALTHAMSTOW, SOUTH OCKENDON
Senior managers at one of Britain’s biggest homebuilders knew of problems in a deal to sell a block of flats to an accused mortgage fraudster but still went ahead with it, a court heard today (Wed).
Under the terms of the deal, Persimmon Homes sold 84 brand new apartments to Alim Barry – a Sierra Leonean national now said to have swindled millions out of high-street lenders.
Prosecutors say Barry’s shell company Atrex bought the flats for £15.25m before selling them on at inflated prices to buyers who had fraudulent mortages.
Barry and his accomplices used a network of crooked brokers, accountants and solicitors to create fake financial histories for these applicants and dupe the banks, it is claimed.
The conman has since fled the country with the profits of the scam, after swindling lenders into handing over a total £18.75m in loans, Southwark Crown Court has heard.
Although the firm is not accused of any crime, it is claimed that Persimmon was ‘instrumental’ in allowing the fraud to take place.
Persimmon solicitor Nick Knight told the court he helped draw up the deal Barry made in 2006 to buy the Hill House block in Thamesmead, South East London.
He said Atrex paid an initial deposit of £250,000 on the building, and paid the rest of the cash as the subsequent mortgage deals went through on individual flats.
Mr Knight told the court he had inserted a clause in the contract stating that if Barry did not make the payments with a set timeframe, Persimmon would be entitled to keep his deposit and offer Hill House to other buyers.
But he said that although senior managers in the company’s South East division were aware Barry was missing these deadlines, they decided to continue with the deal.
He named chairman Brendan O’Neill, managing director Edward Owens and sales director Jason Stokes as among those who were allegedly aware of the decision.
Mr Justin Cole, defending Dean Dairo, an accountant accused of helping Barry commit the fraud, asked Mr Knight why Persimmon did not simply terminate the contract.
He said: ‘You tried to protect the position of Persimmon by inserting a clause which meant that if Alim Barry was late, Persimmon could have just walked away with his deposit.
‘We have seen that what in fact happened was the absolute opposite.
‘What in fact they did was tie themselves around the waist of Mr Barry and his selling on of the flats.
‘Who made the decision to wait until then before receiving the money?’
Mr Knight replied: ‘The decision not to terminate the contract would have hinged on how the management of Persimmon South East viewed market conditions at the time.’
He named Mr Stokes and Mr O’Neill as among those who would have been involved in the decision.
Mr Cole added: ‘It would be a nonsense to suggest that Mr Owens, the managing director, would have been ignorant of what was going on.
‘The completions were happening whenever Atrex chose to send money.
‘I think we are agreed that Mr Owens must have known what was going on. And of course Mr Stokes himself.’
The solicitor replied: ‘Yes.’
Mr Knight told the court that another senior Persimmon executive, Nick Thomas, had looked at alternative buyers for the flats.
He said: ‘I think at some stage of the transaction, Mr Thomas to go back and investigate the possibility of going elsewhere.
‘I've seen in the bundle something to the effect that they had another interested party, but couldn't get as much money as under the current Atrex deal.’
In the dock alongside Dairo are Barry’s cousins Mohammed, 39, and Muctaru Barrie, 29, mortgage valuers Brad Fisher, 44, George Sourou, 43, and Sofiya Ahmed, 28, and solicitor Okwuchukwu Izuchukwu.
Mohammed Barrie, of (78) Pinewood Ave, Dartford, Kent; Izuchukwu, of (139) Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, East London; Ahmed, of (153) Howard Road, Walthamstow, East London; Dairo, of (20) Eastern Ave, South Ockendon, Essex; Fisher, of (33) Tiptree Crescent, Ilford, Essex; and Sourou, of (21) The Crescent, Ilford, Essex deny conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders.
Muctaru Barrie, also of (78) Pinewood Place, Mohammed Barrie and Izuchukwu deny conspiracy to launder criminal property.
Joseph, of (4) Furham Field, Pinner, Middlesex, has admitted seven specimen charges of false accounting.
The trial continues.
ENDS
// posted by Chris McGlade @ 2:38 PM
