SFO's prosecution of £60m property fraud begins

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has begun its prosecution of two men who set up fake companies and changed their names to defraud Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Scotland out of £60m.

The SFO began its prosecution of property and shipping businessman Achilleas Kallakis and co-defendant Alexander Williams on September 29 at Southwark Crown Court.

Both men have been charged with 21 counts of conspiracy to defraud, forgery, fraud by false representation, money laundering and obtaining a money transfer by deception, reported the Financial Times.

They have also been accused of using forged documents, including letters from Credit Suisse, to mislead the banks about Kallakis' personal wealth and his associated businesses. One letter claimed the Kallakis family had more than £266m in the bank and shipping assets worth £506m.

Prosecutors told the court that with the false documentation, Allied Irish Bank was persuaded to lend £740m in 16 separate property transactions between 2003 and 2007 to companies under the pair's control, resulting in losses of £55m.

A £22.3m shipping loan from the Bank of Scotland in 2007 resulted in the bank losing £5m.

Kallakis and Williams are also said to have lied when claiming that listed Hong Kong real estate group Sun Hung Kai Properties was their guarantor.

The case is expected to last three months. Both Kallakis and Williams deny the charges.