Norma Shirley, of Grosvenor Court, Newton-le-Willows among family sentenced for large-scale mortgage fraud

Norma Shirley, 60, of Grosvenor Court, Newton-le-Willows was convicted of mortgage fraud and sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years at Manchester Crown Court on Monday (September 10).

All six had been convicted on Friday, June 8 following a 23-week long trial.

Their activities had been discovered after the arrest of James Shirley, of Deerbolt Way, Kirkby, on suspicion of possession of Class B controlled drugs.

He was found to be in possession of £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 the family had been leading.

Over a period of four years, the family committed multiple mortgage frauds falsely declaring their income in order to obtain mortgages on luxury properties in Kirkby, Widnes, Ormskirk and Warrington.

In 2003 James Shirley had 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 money at a time which HMRC records show his earnings were nil.

On the same application Toni Smith, of Regency Park, Widnes, stated she was employed as a computer manager for Jackymundos, declaring earnings in excess of what she had reported to HMRC she was paid.

In the same year, Norma Shirley, from Newton-le-Willows, and her late husband purchased a property in Deerbolt Way, Kirkby for £330,000.

Shirley stated her personal income as manager of Jackymundos was more than double the sum she had reported to HMRC.

Meanwhile, in 2006, Danielle Brighouse, formerly of Jefferson Drive, Great Sankey had bought a property in Bramble Way, Ormskirk, falsely declaring she was a self-employed hairdresser earning four times the amount she had reported to HMRC.

Also in 2006, Ross Shirley purchased a property in Jefferson Drive for £300,000 stating he was the director of ‘Shirley Homes’ and earned over £70,000 per year. His HMRC declarations showed a salary of £15,600 from Jackymundos.

From 2007 to 2009 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 and he transferred the money to each disabled person's bank account, and then used their disability status to avoid paying VAT on any of the vehicles.

He then immediately sold the vehicles on for a large profit which was paid into his own bank account.

The scam was run for 18 months and more than £5m worth of vehicles were purchased in this way, evading around £1m in VAT.

Eric Scraggs, of Norris Avenue, Stockport arranged the purchases and paid some of the money into James Shirley’s account for him.

The sentences received by the six defendants were:

• James Shirley, 37, of Deerbolt Way, Kirkby, who was convicted of two counts of mortgage fraud, conspiracy to evade VAT and money laundering, 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 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.

Detective Superintendent 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.

"Now this complex and lengthy investigation, this family and their criminal behaviour has been exposed and dismantled and I would encourage anyone who is aware of people involved in similar criminal behaviour to come forward, and we take action."

• Anyone who thinks they have been a victim of a scam, is asked to call the Action Fraud helpline on 0300 123 2040.