Shane Davies was charged with conspiracy to defraud on Tuesday night following a long police investigation.
The charge relates to dealings between January 2000 and December 2008 when Davies allegedly conspired with Jamie Savery, 38, from Trowbridge, and others to defraud mortgage lenders, the Bath Chronicle reported.
Savery and two other men, Wayne Dowding, 44, and Justin Quintin, 36, both from Bath, have also all been charged with conspiracy to defraud and have been bailed to appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on November 14. Davies, who now lives at New Terrace in Trowbridge, appeared in Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday and was remanded on bail to appear again on February 15.
He appeared in court wearing a navy blue suit and spoke only to confirm his name.
The charges follow the arrests of seven people in Bath in February as part of a probe by the Operation Zephyr regional crime squad, which was set up to tackle organised crime.
The arrests were made following dawn raids on homes across the city and a further four raids at Bath businesses, in which papers and other evidence were seized.
The alleged offences relate to mortgages on properties in the city, and the court yesterday heard the alleged fraud was in excess of £1 million.
Eight years ago, Davies refurbished a Bath townhouse that was once home to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, creating a property worth £1million after buying it at auction for £195,000. The project in Raby Place won him the renovation category in Build It magazine’s 2003 Self Builder of the Year competition.
The conditions of his bail include not contacting the three other charged men, to report to Bath police station every day, and to surrender his passport.
