Yahoo Finance Mother faces losing home of 25 years after son forged £121,000 mortgage to open nightclub
A devious son has left his mother facing financial ruin after duping a bank into securing a £121,990 second mortgage on her home.
Paula Fletcher says she could soon be out of the streets after her son Ashley obtained the money for an ill-fated nightclub venture.
She says the bank is adamant the loan – secured on her home of 25 years – must be paid back and that if it isn’t, she is out.
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“I have lost everything. He was proved guilty yet still I am being kicked out,” said 53-year-old Paula, a doctor’s receptionist from Plymouth.
“I just don’t understand. I haven’t had a penny of the money he defrauded me out of.”
Six years ago, Ashley posed as a legitimate businessman with rich backers when in fact he was just an accountancy graduate.
He intended on making a gain of £90,740 to open his own nightclub in Plymouth but was eventually arrested and charged with fraud.
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Unsuspecting victims left jobs in the nightclub trade ready to work at Fletcher’s Odyssey venue – which his own barrister described at the time as a “pipe dream”.
He was jailed but has now been released after paying back just £50 – meanwhile, his distraught mother is on the brink and has already started packing boxes.
“I don’t understand how the bank, knowing Ashley has been charged with fraud, can still take my house away from me, while he seems to be living a life of luxury and probably grinning from ear-to-ear,” she said.
“I am 53 years old and will never get a mortgage again. I’ve got absolutely nothing and this law needs to be changed.
“If my son can do it to me, it can happen to anybody.”
A spokesperson for Santander, which agreed the loan, said that although the deeds were amended prior to Ashley approaching Santander, the bank is looking at options available to help Paula.
“We are very sympathetic to Ms Fletcher’s situation and we are seeking to find a solution that helps both parties,” they said.
“Unfortunately, Ms Fletcher’s son (Ashley Fletcher) succeeded in being added to the deeds of the property – and secured a loan on (it).
“Santander is owed the money Mr Fletcher obtained – and this debt is secured against the property that the deeds show as being jointly owned by Ms Paula Fletcher and Mr Ashley Fletcher.”
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Paula, who works one-and-a-half days a week at the surgery and also cares for her sick mother, who has dementia, is running out of time before her home is repossessed.
“If I had had a penny of that money I would hold my hands up and say it’s my fault,” she said, “but it’s not.”
