Wigan borough house raided as £140m property fraud investigation gets under way

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) targeted three properties – including one in Leigh – and made four arrests in Merseyside and Greater Manchester in an operation supported by the National Crime Agency.

It is investigating Liverpool-based Signature Group, a business which attracted more than 1,000 UK and international investors in the redevelopment of iconic landmarks including Belfast’s Scottish Mutual Building and the Coal Exchange in Cardiff.

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.

The SFO said 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 eight and 15 per cent.

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

Properties in the group’s portfolio included Millennium House in Liverpool, as well as a cruise liner that was marketed as a “flotel” to be moored off Canary Wharf in London and travel to Ibiza.

Nick Ephgrave, director of the Serious Fraud Office, 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.

“Today’s arrests and searches will help us reconstruct exactly what happened. This is now an active criminal investigation.”