Four men convicted of taking part in a mortgage fraud involving three properties in Keighley have been jailed for a total of more than nine years.

Majid Iqbal, of Green Head Road; Aurangzeb Asghar of Belgrave Road; Mushtaq Ahmed, of Devonshire Street, all Keighley, and Fayaz Ahmed of Odette Court, Bingley, were sentenced yesterday at Bradford Crown Court for fraud-related offences.

The men were convicted following an investigation by officers in the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) Team in Airedale and North Bradford Police, with support from the Keighley Neighbourhood Policing Team. Detectives identified houses in Green Head Road, Sladen Street and Edensor Road, Keighley, which were all purchased with fraudulent mortgages.

Iqbal was sentenced to four-and-a-half years, Asghar and Mushtaq Ahmed received 27 months and 18 months respectively, while Fayaz Ahmed was sentenced to 18 months.

Arrests were made in connection with the properties in late 2010 and detectives spent the next 12 months carrying out painstaking enquiries to build a case against the men.

Officers will now seek to confiscate profits made by the group as a result of criminal activity.

Read more on this story in today's T&A