Husband ‘forged wife’s signature to take out mortgages’

The wife of a former head of a wealthy tourist board is suing a mortgage company after she claims her husband forged her signature to remortgage their home.

Linda Sydenham-Baker is suing Swift Advances for more than £300,000 after legal moves to evict her from her home of 30 years have been made.

The 72-year-old claims her husband, who is the former head of tourism for Poole and Dorset, took out two mortgages on their Blandford home in her name worth £590,000 when he forged her signature.

According to a High Court writ, Patrick Baker also raked in more than £500,000 when he forged her signature on investments and inheritance documents – effectively leaving her more than £1million out of pocket.

According to a High Court writ, Patrick Baker also raked in more than £500,000 when he forged her signature on investments and inheritance documents

Mrs Sydenham-Baker said Mr Baker took out a £395,000 interest-only second mortgage in 2006 on the large detached home they had bought for £147,500 in 1988. He allegedly used the money for his own purposes without tell her, the Telegraph reports.

Then in 2007, it was remortgaged again through Swift Advances to free up £195,000 which he said was to invest in his business.

It was not until November 2015 that James Sydenham, Mrs Sydenham-Baker’s son from a previous marriage, found that the house was at risk of being repossessed when Baker was arrested.

Baker was given a two-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of defrauding his staff and HMRC out of nearly £130,000. 

His estranged wife claims she is the victim of ’emotional abuse and financial fraud’ and that her husband did not allow her to have control of her own monetary situation.

One of her complaints is that she was not allowed to open bank letters and that he exploited her trust. 

Swift Advances said they won a possession order four years ago after Baker defaulted on the loans but Mrs Sydenham-Baker claims she did not find out until after the event and is asking the High Court to set the order aside.

Swift Advances said it was unable to comment while the case was before the High Court. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk