Three former directors of Agora, the failed adult gaming centres company, were jailed in London on Monday.
Amarjit Singh-Mann, Jagjeet Chahal and Kamlesh Panchel were alleged to have duped financial institutions out of £20m to expand their property portfolio.
They had refinanced a number of their existing commercial properties but falsely told the institutions that they had secured long-term leases on the properties with several different companies.
On the strength of that, three lenders granted major loans on the grounds that the men had secured leases. In September 2009 one lender reported the fraud and Chahal was arrested in June of 2010. They were all charged with conspiracy to defraud and were found guilty at Harrow Crown Court on October 10.
Detective Constable Claire Bailey said that Singh-Mann, Chahal and Panchel “thought their mortgage fraud was so complex that they could beat the lenders and the police but our investigation, along with the co-operation of the lenders, has proven their arrogance was their downfall.”
On Monday of this week at Harrow Crown Court they returned for sentencing. Singh-Mann and Panchal were each given seven years in prison while Chahal received three-and-a-half years and they were all disqualified from holding directorships for eight years.
