MP linked to solicitor at centre of fraud probe
A PROMINENT Nationalist MP is facing questions over a series of property deals after the lawyer involved was struck off for professional misconduct.
SNP business spokesman Michelle Thomson’s firm used the services of solicitor Christopher Hales, who has now been banned from practising amid c oncerns a bout possible mortgage fraud.
Hales worked for either Mrs Thomson, her husband Peter or the couple’s firm M&F Property Solutions on 13 property transactions.
Some of the properties were bought with loans provided by Birmingham Midshires Building Society, a subsidiary of Lloyds, and a professional tribunal has raised concerns about whether that lender and others were misled.
It is understood Lloyds is poised to look into the deals, saying it takes all allegations of fraud very seriously.
Last night the party said it had no plans for Mrs Thomson to be removed from her high-
‘Serious allegations’
profile position. A spokesman for the Edinburgh West MP said: ‘Michelle has always acted within the law and will make no further comment.’
The tribunal document set out Mrs Thomson’s role in mortgage deals at a Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal hearing against Hales in Edinburgh in May last year.
The 53-page ruling states the ‘ c entral r ol e of Michelle Thomson and M&F Property Solutions in a number of these transactions should have set alarm bells ringing’.
It said Hales ‘must have been aware that there was a possibility he was facilitating mortgage f raud, whether or not this occurred’.
In some cases, loans obtained for the properties were greater than the actual purchase price. Hales failed to provide mortgage companies with key information used to prevent fraud.
The correct facts, if they had been provided to the lender, may have had ‘a material effect on the decision to lend’, the tribunal ruled.
Last night a spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said: ‘We take any information relating to fraud against the bank very seriously and have procedures in place to take appropriate action.’
Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont has called on the SNP to suspend Mrs Thomson from her business portfolio while investigations continue.
He said: ‘These allegations are extremely serious and it’s no good for the SNP just to act as if nothing is going on.
‘We discover today that the solicitor i nvolved has been struck off for his part in these dodgy deals, now we need to know what the MP’s involvement was, too.
‘Given the nature of the allegations, the SNP should ask Michelle Thomson to step aside from her business portfolio at the House of Commons until all the facts have come to light.’
The tribunal documents reveal that, in June 2010, Mrs Thomson bought a three-bedroom terraced house near Aberdeen for £245,000 and sold it a few hours later to someone she knew for £315,000.
The tribunal ruled that the quick sale – or ‘back-to-back’ transaction – was not disclosed by Hales to the mortgage lender, contrary to the Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook. Experts say back-to-back transactions by two parties operating together can be used to secure a larger mortgage than would otherwise be available.
It can also reduce tax by recording a higher price on the land registry than was paid.
It means when the property is later sold, the profit — which is subject to capital gains tax — may be understated by thousands of pounds.
In ten of the other deals for which Hales was struck off, M& F Property Solutions provided deposits to other homebuyers.
The tribunal said Hales should have told their lenders that some of the funds were ‘not provided by the purchaser’.
The tribunal ruled that it had no other option than to strike Hales from the register, its most severe sanction.
Mrs Thomson, 50, trained as a musician at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama but later embarked on a business and property career.
She was a high-profile figure in the Yes movement and Business for Scotland group before she became an MP in May.