Claim brought against partner of conveyancing mortgage fraudster struck out

Claim brought against partner of conveyancing mortgage fraudster struck out

A claim brought by a defrauded mortgage company which would have seen the former partner of a corrupt solicitor pay over £200,000 has been struck out by the High Court.

Submitted by Mortgage Trust Limited (MTL), the claim was brought against Kerry Smith, who’s Conveyancing partner at the firm had been part of a £30 million mortgage fraud. She has previously been a family law partner at Willmet in Berkshire – the firm later went into administration.

Speaking in regard to the claim, the fact that MTL had held off on pursuing it for over two and half year was described by the judge as coming “close to… an abuse of process.” The delay of the process had in turn had a negative impact on Smith’s health.

Jonathan Gilbert, her former partner at the firm, was struck of in 2014 after taking out several false mortgages on the homes of strangers. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Arguing as to why they had delayed bringing the claim, MTL stated that it was later when it discovered Smith was not a salaried member of staff, but an equity partner at the firm. On this point, the judge stated that steps could been taken by the company to find this out at a earlier point.

The case, according to the company, was eventually pursued as the date of expiration for the limitation period was coming up.

In reaching his decision, the judge stated that delaying the case for so long placed the company “under a higher duty to prosecute the claim with diligence.”

Speaking of Smith’s experience, he went on: “Ms Smith has been living for around ten years with the potential effects on her of Mr Gilbert’s conduct. There is evidence before the court as to the effect on her health.”

On the basis that the claim had been left for so long, as to almost amount to an abuse of process, as well as the “significant predjudice to Ms Smith caused by that inactivity” led the court to strike out the claim.

Georgia Owen

Georgia is the Content Executive and will be your primary contact when submitting your latest news. While studying for an LLB at the University of Liverpool, Georgia gained experience working within retail, as well as social media management. She later went on to work for a local newspaper, before starting at Today’s Conveyancer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *