This writer became peripherally involved in a property scam worth millions.
Originally published August 2021.
One early spring day in 2016, I was interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office. Fear not: as an informant. You enter the place though what feels like the tradesmen’s entrance of Canada House on Trafalgar Square. Subject of meeting: Saghir and Nisar Afzal. A tip I’d had on the whereabouts of Nisar got me buzzed through a series of locked doors and into a meeting room with three members of the SFO. First impression – impressed. A striking female lawyer took notes. A cagey cop in double-breasted suit and Poirot moustache didn’t smile. A friendlier cop in a woolly jumper and beard smiled encouragingly.
The case in summary: chartered surveyor Ian McGarry was a valuer at Dunlop Haywards Lorenz. He was bunged over £3m between 2004 and 2006 to produce false valuations based on fictitious leases, valuations which supported mortgage applications on six commercial properties. Companies controlled by Nizar Afzal and his younger brother Saghir were bought from genuine sellers for under £6m. McGarry’s false valuations allowed the Afzals to deceive lenders into handing over nearly £50m. Nizar legged it to Pakistan in 2006, before he could be charged. Saghir ended up with 23 years, McGarry, seven.
“McGarry’s false valuations allowed the Afzals to deceive lenders into handing over nearly £50m”
In March 2016, I’d received a series of emails from… Well, let’s call him Mr X, in Islamabad. He’d seen a summary of the case in my 2013 book, Planet Property. Mr X was irked that Nisar was living “a life of luxury” in Islamabad – what the hell were the British police doing to haul him back to face justice? Mr X supplied me with Nisar’s mobile number, and addresses for his office and two homes. They looked pretty plush, at least judged from Google Earth. A set of photographs was also supplied – snapshots of charge sheets pinned up in Indian courts. I can’t remember what the charges were, but they contained Nisar’s name.
I told the SFO that I was not interested in pursuing the story. Above my pay grade. Nasir seemed to be a very influential figure in Islamabad, according to the Pakistani papers. I handed over my papers, then told MR X that I’d been to see the SFO. Never heard another word from him – or the SFO. But, by gum, they don’t let go. His arrest warrant is still valid. In 2019 they grabbed
£500,000 worth of jewellery stashed in a safe deposit box. In 2019 two properties in Birmingham worth £1.5m were seized.
The Afzal’s used their gains to fund a lavish lifestyle which saw them buy houses around the world and splash out millions on sports cars, including Maseratis and Ferraris. They are believed to have shipped over to Pakistan sports cars worth £2m between 2003 and 2005. The bulk of the £50m has yet to be traced, but a new 2017 law on seizing criminal gains has seen nearly £4m in onshore assets sequestered, including £1.7m from McGarry.
THE VALUER – IAN MCGARRY
Ian McGarry was in his early 30s in 2004 and a director at Dunlop Haywards Lorenz. He was first arrested in March 2006 by the SFO, then found culpable in a civil trial in 2007. McGarry accepted bribes from the Afzal brothers worth close to £3m, including lavish holidays in Dubai, an Aston Martin car and cash in brown paper envelopes. He was gifted three London properties worth £1.1m. Between 2004 and 2006, the Afzal brothers bought six commercial properties for just £5,688,125. McGarry provided false valuations to allow the Afzals to deceive lenders into handing over a total of £49,287,000.
One example: £10.5m was milked from the Cheshire Building Society, which advanced the cash in early 2005 against an old brass works in Birmingham, worth about £1m. McGarry had certified the place was worth £16m. This calculation was based on the fraudulent fact that three tenants had signed 20-year leases, promising to pay rents totalling £1.2m a year. The lender never bothered to kick the tyres. In another instance, McGarry valued a property at £19m that had been purchased for just £1m. The Bank of Ireland, Société Générale and the Nationwide Building Society were all defrauded.
McGarry was sentenced to seven years in 2011. Judge Beddoe said: “He was determined to hold on to as much of those dishonest gains as he could. On his first arrest he attempted to move the £86,000 he had hidden in London’s Silver Vaults. On the second, he sold the Porsche for £58,000 and hid the money in his wife’s name.” McGarry benefitted to the tune of £2,792,401, but his realisable assets were just over £1.5m. These were disclosed and seized under threat of six more years in jail. The RICS expelled him in May 2012, seven years after the civil case.
THE RINGLEADER – NASIR AFZAL
An arrest warrant remains open for ringleader Nasir Afzal, now in his early 60s. He fled to Pakistan in 2006. In September 2020, the SFO seized £500,000 worth of his jewellery stashed in a UK safe deposit box. In 2019, £1.52m was realised from the sale of two of his Birmingham properties. These were the largest seizures of their kind and the SFO’s first use of new powers from the 2017 Criminal Finances Act. Mark Thompson, chief operating officer at the SFO, said at the time, “Our actions send a clear message to anyone involved in fraud, bribery or corruption that we will work tirelessly to get back the proceeds of your crimes.”
THE BOOKKEEPER – SAGHIR AFZAL
Nisar Afzal’s younger brother Saghir was sentenced to 13 years in 2011, then given another 10 years in 2013 for his failure to comply with a confiscation order. Saghir, now nearly 60, was involved in the day-to-day management. His job was to oversee the paperwork that saw the properties bought and sold a number of times over a short period of time, always for an apparently higher price. The only money paid was for the initial purchase. The applications for mortgages were supported by forged identification papers and false leases. Six solicitors were charged. None was found guilty.
