Four arrested in Signature Group '£140m property fraud' probe

Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) carried out raids on properties as part of the probe

Four people have been arrested in an investigation into an alleged £140m property fraud.

Three properties in Merseyside and Greater Manchester were raided earlier as part of the probe, which the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said focused on the company Signature Group.

The Liverpool-based firm, which had a portfolio of hotels in the city, went into administration in 2020.

The SFO said "people up and down the country" had been left "out of pocket".

More than 50 SFO investigators, including digital information specialists, were supported by the National Crime Agency (NCA) during the raids.

The four people arrested, who have been arrested have not been named by the SFO, will be questioned later at police stations in the north west of England.

'Active criminal investigation'

An SFO spokesman said the Signature Group operated for more than seven years, "buying up predominantly historic buildings within the UK for redevelopment into luxury hotels, residential apartments and office spaces".

"Investors loaned money to Signature or purchased a hotel room, apartment or office space in one of the group's properties, with promised returns on their investment of between 8% and 15%," he said.

"The business collapsed into administration with losses of up to £140m."

He said properties in the group's portfolio included Millennium House in Liverpool, the Scottish Mutual Building in Belfast and "a cruise liner that was marketed as a 'flotel', to be moored off Canary Wharf in London and travel to Ibiza".

SFO director Nick Ephgrave said the scheme "offered attractive returns and used much-loved local landmarks to lure investors".

"We have people up and down the country left out of pocket and buildings left derelict at the centre of our cities," he said.

"Today's arrests and searches will help us reconstruct exactly what happened.

"This is now an active criminal investigation."