Family pair jailed over house purchase frauds
TWO members of a family have been jailed for offences including mortgage fraud after buying homes in areas such as Burscough.
A further three family members were given suspended sentences for their roles, while another was jailed for six years for conspiracy to evade VAT.
All six were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court this week, after being convicted on June 8 following a 23-week trial.
The activities were discovered after the arrest of James Shirley, 37, on suspicion of possession of Class B controlled drugs.
He was found to have £6,000 cash and a receipt for £800 worth of hydroponics equipment, shown in court to be for the commercial and industrial production of cannabis.
The subsequent investigation revealed the criminal lifestyle he and other members of his family had been leading.
Over four years, the family committed numerous mortgage frauds, falsely declaring their income to get mortgages on properties in Kirkby, Widnes, Burscough and Warrington.
In 2003 James Shirley bought a house on Curran Way, Kirkby, for £108,000, stating he was self-employed with a fast food company called Jackymundos and falsely declaring incomes for previous years on the mortgage application.
Evidence from HMRC showed he had completed no self-assessment declaration for the wages he claimed he was receiving.
In 2005 he bought a house on Regency Park, Widnes, for £360,000, again stating he was self-employed with Jackymundos, and claiming he was paid at a time that HMRC records show his earnings were nil.
On the same application Toni Smith, 35, stated she was employed as a computer manager for Jackymundos, declaring earnings in excess of what she had reported to HMRC.
In the same year, Norma Shirley, 60, and her late husband purchased a property in Deerbolt Way, Kirkby, for £330,000. The personal income she claimed she earned as manager of Jackymundos was more than double the sum she had reported to HMRC.
In 2006, Danielle Brighouse, 33, bought a property in Bramble Way, Burscough, falsely declaring she was a selfemployed hairdresser earning four times the amount she had reported to HMRC.
Also in 2006, Ross Shirley, 36, purchased a property in Jefferson Drive, Warrington, for £300,000 stating he was the director of Shirley Homes and earned more than £70,000 a year. His tax declarations showed a salary of £15,600 from Jackymundos.
From 2007-09 James Shirley ran a car sales business called J Shirley Cars.
Using the cover of a legitimate business he exploited several disabled people to buy more than 120 high-value luxury vehicles, including Bentley Continentals, Porches, Range Rovers and high powered Audis.
The vehicles were bought by Shirley. He transferred the money to each disabled individual’s bank account, then used their disability status to avoid paying VAT on any of the vehicles.
He then sold the vehicles on for a large profit, which was paid into his bank account.
The scam was run for 18 months and vehicles worth more than £5m were purchased in this way, evading around £1m in VAT. Eric Scraggs arranged the purchases and paid some of the money into James Shirley’s account for him.
James Shirley, 37, of Deerbolt Way, Kirkby, was convicted of two counts of mortgage fraud, conspiracy to evade VAT and money laundering. He was jailed for six years, three months
Toni Smith, 35, of Regency Park, Widnes, was convicted of mortgage fraud and money laundering. She was sentenced to 12 months suspended for two years
Ross Shirley, 36, formerly of Jefferson Drive, Great Sankey, was convicted of mortgage fraud and money laundering. He was jailed for three years
Danielle Brighouse, 33, formerly of Jefferson Drive, Great Sankey, was convicted of mortgage fraud and money laundering. She was sentenced to 15 months’ jail suspended for two years and 100 hours’ unpaid work
Norma Shirley, 60, of Grosvenor Court, Newton-le-Willows, was convicted of mortgage fraud and sentenced to 12 months suspended for two years
Eric Scraggs, 55, of Norris Avenue, Stockport, was convicted of conspiracy to evade VAT and jailed for six years
After the sentencing, Det Supt John Webster said: “Today’s sentencing shows that we will use all available powers to pursue and prosecute organised criminals, wherever and however they attempt to operate.
“No-one who works hard for a living in our communities wants to see criminals living lavish lifestyles beyond their legitimate means, and we share our utter disgust for their behaviour, and a constant determination to bring them to justice.
“Despite overwhelming evidence, James Shirley denied being involved in the car scam – a story that did not deceive the jury.
“This is the first prosecution of its kind in the UK relating to the criminal acquisition of vehicles this way, and represents a massive success which we strongly believe will deter others from attempting such criminality.
“A lengthy investigation by our officers uncovered that the family had access to large amounts of cash and rarely – if at all – used their bank accounts for daily expenses.
“All of the Shirley family had use of the luxury vehicles and in some cases paid cash for them using third party bank accounts.”