Former Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman accused of tax evasion, mortgage fraud

Former Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman has been found guilty of mortgage fraud and tax evasion by a judge , reports ‘The Telegraph’.

Rahman was removed from office in April 2015 as an election court found him guilty of corruption and illegal practices after his re-election was challenged by four voters.

He was ordered to pay the petitioners’ legal costs, which amount to over £500,000, says the report.

But Rahman failed to do so, declaring himself bankrupt in November, leading to the hearing on Friday after the petitioners applied for charges on his two properties.

The judge accused the former mayor of providing “misleading information” to mortgage companies.

The report said that Chief Master Marsh found that Rahman and his wife failed to declare any rental income from Rahman’s buy-to-let properties since 2005.

“Both Mr Rahman and his broker must have been aware that they were providing misleading information to the two proposed lenders and furthermore that the details of Mr Rahman’s earnings were being considered by both lenders on the assumption that there was to be no other loan,” The Telegraph report quoted the judgement as saying.

Earlier this week, Rahman’s bid to overturn convictions for electoral malpractice and a five-year ban on running for office were rejected by two senior judges, the report said.

After being thrown out of the Labour Party in 2010, Rahman ran as an independent and won the elections for the Tower Hamlets mayor.

In 2014, he was re-elected, but it was declared void by an election court last year following the petition by four local residents.