A mother and daughter have been convicted for fraud involving a property in Kensington worth more than £1million.

Laylah Scarlett De Cruz, 31, who lives in Dubai and her mother, Diane Jean Moorcroft, 62, of Warley Road, Blackpool, were both found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud on Monday (January 16) at Southwark Crown Court.

Metropolitan Police said that in 2014 De Cruz and Moorcroft had conspired with others to rent a property in Kensington using fraudulent documents.

Once the tenancy of the property had been secured, Moorcroft changed her name by Deed Poll, a legal document which proves change of name, to that of the genuine owner of the property, who was deceased.

She travelled to Dubai where she opened a bank account in the dead woman's name, before travelling back to London where she successfully applied for a loan of £1.2million against the property.

After the loan had been approved in October 2014, the proceeds of the fraud were transferred to the bank accounts in Dubai which Moorcroft had opened with her new UK passport, under her new name and the funds were subsequently withdrawn in cash.

An investigation was launched in October 2014 by fraud detectives from the Met's Operation Falcon after the Land Registry had reported suspicious activity around the Kensington property.

Moorcroft was arrested in February 2015 at her home in Blackpool on suspicion of fraud, while De Cruz was arrested on suspicion of fraud as she entered the UK from Dubai in May 2016.

Both were then charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and following Monday's verdict, De Cruz and Moorcroft were released on bail to return to the same court for sentencing on March 10.

Detective constable Richard Kirk, of the Met's Operation Falcon, said: "Having gained access to the property by renting it, Moorcroft duped a solicitor into believing that she was the rightful owner and signed documents to that effect.

"The suspects then approached a broker and obtained a bridging loan of £1.2m against the property.

"De Cruz played a pivotal role, she recruited her mother and persuaded her to change her name to that of the deceased owner of the address and open bank accounts in that name.

"Having been promised a percentage of the proceeds of the fraud, Moorcroft willingly took part."

The proceeds of this fraud have never been recovered.

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