Northampton Town: Cardoza house seized after loan probe

Christina Cardoza, her husband David and father-in-law Anthony Cardoza leaving Birmingham High Court in 2019

The wife of the former owner of Northampton Town has had her home seized as part of the probe into the missing £10m loan to the football club.

West Northamptonshire Council has taken possession of Christina Cardoza's house as it seeks to recover the money that was granted 10 years ago.

Council leader Jonathan Nunn confirmed the details and said that they had also recovered other assets.

Mrs Cardoza could not be reached for comment.

The League Two club had borrowed £10.25m from Northampton Borough Council when her husband David Cardoza, along with his father Anthony, were in charge of The Cobblers.

The loan was intended to help rebuild the East Stand at Sixfields stadium, and redevelop nearby land, but the work stalled in 2014 after contractors went unpaid and the money seemingly vanished.

West Northants Council has since taken responsibility for recovering the money after the borough council was replaced in a shake-up of local government in the county.

In 2018, the High Court heard that £2.7m of the loan had been passed to Anthony Cardoza via a company set up to oversee the development, which had received the bulk of the loan.

The following year he was ordered to repay the council £2.1m, but was declared bankrupt a few months later.

A portion of the loan money was also used to remodel David and Christina Cardoza's former family home at Church Brampton near Northampton.

The court also found that David Cardoza had transferred the house to his wife's name in an attempt to avoid potential future creditors when the loan money disappeared.

Northampton Borough Council launched legal proceedings to seize Mrs Cardoza's property.

Mr Nunn told the BBC: "They moved away from Church Brampton, but the council's charge [its financial claim] moved to the new property.

"The council has taken possession now, marketed the property, and had an acceptable offer.

"Sale is yet to complete, but is progressing, so as always with house sales it is likely, but not certain until we have the money."

The East Stand at Northampton Town's Sixfields ground remains unfinished

A council spokesman said: "We recovered three properties linked with the Cardozas, two of which have been sold for a total of £405,000, while the other has been sold subject to contract with a net return of around £470,000."

The council had previously transferred ownership of two houses in Milton Keynes from Artefact Investments Ltd, a company linked to the Cardozas.

West Northants said the loan money had been used to buy the properties.

A council report in March 2021 also revealed that the location of Mr and Mrs Cardoza's home could not be identified "because of concerns raised by the Cardozas about personal safety issues".

It also said that the police were looking to secure relevant assets that may be called upon "as part of proceeds of crime processes".

Last week, West Northants struck a deal with the current owners of Northampton Town which both parties hoped would see the completion of the East Stand and redevelopment of waste land next to the stadium.