TWO criminals who took out nearly £4m worth of fraudulent mortgages between them have been jailed for a total of four and a half years.

Jason Omar, 41, of Church Lane, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to two and a half years and Angelique Huggett, 45, of Dishforth Close, Thornaby, Stockton, was sentenced to two years at Teesside Crown Court today (Friday, April 26).

Between 2007 and 2008 the defendants purchased 39 properties and acquired a large number of mortgages which were fraudulent in a number of ways, the court heard.

Steven Myers, prosecuting, said: “Both parties misstated their incomes.

"Omar’s income was stated as being £110,000 per annum from the limousine business or as a property developer. In fact his income never rose much above £10,000.

“Huggett’s income was stated as being either £36,000 or £48,000 per annum from Princess Limousines. In fact she had no legitimate income beyond tax credits, and £15,000 from the rent of property in 2008.”

They also overstated the price of the properties they were buying, meaning they were able to obtain mortgages at up to 110 per cent of the value of the homes.

The fraud was only discovered after Huggett was jailed in May 2012 along with a string of former lovers for conspiracy to supply £1m of cocaine.

Omar was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud last month after a trial. Huggett admitted the same charge at a previous hearing.

Adrian Dent, mitigating for Omar, said: “He put a great deal of his own money into this business. He lost at least £50,000 of his own money.

“There is no pot of gold waiting for him at the end of this. He faces a tax bill of £8,000 to £9,000 and bills from the renovation of the properties.”

The court also heard how Omar was responsible for picking properties to buy, renovating them and then acting as a landlord, rather than being the mastermind of the fraud. He had kept up repayments on the loans and had caused the banks no actual loss.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Howard Crowson said: “I do accept that this is a case where you intended no loss, but you did run the risk of a great loss which was not your risk to run.

“Had they [the banks] been aware the sums would not have been advanced.”

Huggett’s sentence is set to run concurrent with her drug conviction, meaning she will serve no extra time.