The National Crime Agency (NCA) has been denounced for failing to properly investigate allegations that banks forged signatures and fabricated evidence in court actions to repossess homes.
NCA leads the UK’s fight to cut serious and organised crime, “protecting the public by targeting and pursuing those criminals who pose the greatest risk to the UK,” the agency says on its website.
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The signatures, of bank officials and legal representatives, are found on documents such as statements of truth and witness statements submitted to the courts as part of repossession proceedings.
Handwriting experts confirmed that in many cases sent to the NCA, signatures used over the same name could not have been signed by the same person; and that the same signature had been signed over different names.
Adam Brand, a handwriting expert witness in forgery cases, says he has seen dozens of examples provided by online action group the Bank Signature Forgery Campaign. In those cases, he considers it highly likely that different people have been signing under the same name.
Potential “contempt of court”
Following a BBC News investigation in July 2019, Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke, who sits on the Treasury Select Committee, urged an investigation.
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By GlobalDataAnd if proven, it could constitute contempt of court. “You can be jailed for it,” he said. “We need to know how widespread this is.”
He said there was “enough evidence now to suggest this may be not a one-off but a systemic practice”.
“Both Mortgage Express and Lloyds need to cooperate, fully – and hand over the evidence,” he said.
Making a “thorough assessment” of the situation
The NCA says it is making a thorough assessment of the material submitted to determine whether a criminal investigation was necessary.
“We are continuing to assess the material, including additional information supplied in May 2020,” said an NCA spokesman.
“Together with partners in the FCA and SFO, we are making a thorough assessment to determine whether there are grounds for a criminal or regulatory investigation.”
However, anti-corruption campaigners and MPs say victims haven’t been contacted and no investigation has been started.
In the US, such practices – on a very large scale – led to billion-dollar fines and millions in compensation.
