Convicted £50m mortgage fraudster to appeal

Former chartered surveyor Ian McGarry, jailed yesterday for seven years for his part in a £50m mortgage fraud, is to appeal the sentence, which his solicitor branded as “manifestly excessive”.

McGarry's solicitor Anil Rajani, partner at IBB Solicitors, said his client was "devastated" by the severity of the sentence handed down by Judge Beddoe at the Southwark Crown Court yesterday.

Rajani said: "Mr McGarry had pleaded guilty at the first reasonable opportunity, he had co-operated fully with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigators in providing them with assistance about the involvement of others and had waited in excess of five years to be sentenced.

"The SFO has taken nearly four years to make a decision to charge Mr McGarry from the time of his first arrest in March 2006. We will be lodging an appeal against this manifestly excessive sentence."

He added: "A large body of evidence was presented to the court from character witnesses, many of whom were professionals who spoke of the utter devastation of Mr McGarry's personal and professional life."

In its statement on the resolution of the case yesterday, SFO director Richard Alderman said he was very pleased with the result: "The principal defendants have received hefty sentences, which reflect the seriousness of the offences."