Northampton Town: Former owner appears in court on £10m fraud charge
Former Northampton Town chairman David Cardoza and three other men have appeared in court charged with fraud in connection with a £10m stadium redevelopment loan.
Cardoza spoke only to confirm his identity and date of birth and was not asked to enter a plea during a hearing lasting less then five minutes at Northampton Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The 54-year-old, from Eastbourne, and four others also charged with conspiracy to commit fraud had their cases transferred to Northampton Crown Court, where they will appear in February.
Northamptonshire Police announced on Wednesday that Cardoza; his father Anthony Cardoza, 80, of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire; Howard Grossman, a 63-year-old property developer from Bushey in Hertfordshire; his son, 37-year-old Marcus Grossman, of Barnet; and 54-year-old Simon Patnick, of Stanmore, north London, are all charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between September 2013 and April 2015.
Police said the charges relate to allegedly false representations made to Northampton Borough Council that money loaned by the authority to the football club would be used solely for developing Sixfields Stadium and an adjoining hotel.
Anthony Cardoza, who is a former director at Northampton, was not required to attend Thursday’s hearing and did not appear in court.
David Cardoza, who was a director at the club from 2003 to 2015, left court without making any comment to reporters.
The Cardozas are also both charged with fraud by abuse of position, contrary to section 1 of the Fraud Act, which relates to a sum of £8.75m being paid from the football club to 1st Land Limited, a company owned by Howard Grossman.
Northampton Town alleged fraud: the details
David Cardoza is further charged with transferring criminal property, namely £166,000 in a credit balance via a bank transfer from the bank account of Northampton Town Football Club Limited, knowing or suspecting it to constitute or to represent, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the benefit from criminal conduct.
Howard Grossman also faces three charges of transferring criminal property, specifically amounts of £650,000 from the bank account of his company County Homes (Herts) Ltd to his son and fellow director, Hayden Grossman, as well as transferring £10,000 from 1st Land Limited to Simon Patnick and £15,000 from 1st Land Limited to Simpa Investments Limited, a company owned by Simon Patnick.
Grossman and his son Marcus are further charged with transferring criminal property, namely £20,000, from Marcus Grossman’s account to Simon Patnick, knowing or suspecting it to constitute or to represent, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the benefit from criminal conduct.
As well as fraud, Patnick is accused of acquiring criminal property contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, namely £61,800 in credit balances via bank transfers from or on behalf of Howard Grossman and Marcus Grossman knowing or suspecting it to constitute or to represent the benefit from criminal conduct.
Howard Grossman faces the same allegation, relating to a sum of £10,000 transferred to Margro Properties Ltd, a company run by Marcus Grossman.
Thursday’s hearing was the first time anyone has been brought before the court directly in relation to Operation Tuckhill, a police investigation into the alleged disappearance, discovered in late 2015, of £10.75m loaned to the club.
The alleged theft from Northampton Borough Council is one element of a wider investigation which has seen almost 1,000 witness statements taken since initial police raids on the Sixfields Stadium in November 2015.
Adjourning the case, District Judge Amar Mehta told the four defendants who appeared in court: “You all face allegations which can only be tried at the Crown Court and therefore I formally send your case to Northampton Crown Court.
“In the meantime I release each of you on unconditional bail.”
PA