http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1211062/CITY-FOCUS-Abbey-owns-mortgage-application-malpractice.html
Abbey sales staff doctored their customers' pay details to speed through mortgage applications in the run-up to the property crash, the Mail has learned. They also flouted internal controls by channelling the most attractive mortgage deals through favoured independent brokers.
According to internal documents seen by the Mail, staff at Abbey's Leeds office regularly 'manipulated' mortgage applications staff during 2007. Salary details would be altered so that applications came under minimal scrutiny by risk assessors.
This would speed up the sales process, helping staff hit their targets and earn themselves chunky bonuses. The revelations will be a stain on the reputation of Abbey's Spanish owner Santander, which has prided itself on its prudence during the
In a transcript of an interview with internal investigators - seen by the Mail - the underwriter alleged that 'manipulation' of applications was rife in the Leeds mortgage centre.
Sales staff would log into the booking system and alter an applicants' salary and employment details so that the loan would automatically be approved by the computerised risk system, said one insider.
One of the cases involved unnamed professional rugby league player, who earned a base salary of £60,000 a year plus a further £30,000 in endorsements.
According to the whisteblower, one of the Abbey mortgage advisers revised the rugby player's pay downwards. This was because a man in his twenties earning such a large amount would have automatically been flagged up by the system, leading to his application being examined by a risk assessor.
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