Four in court on football club loan fraud charges

Four men charged with fraud and money laundering offences connected to a missing loan to a League One football club have appeared in court.

The former chairman of Northampton Town FC, David Cardoza, is accused alongside his father Anthony; property developer Howard Grossman and his son Marcus; and another man, Simon Patnick.

The men, apart from Mr Cardoza senior, attended Northampton Magistrates' Court to answer the charges.

He was excused from appearing for health reasons.

All are accused of conspiracy to commit fraud between September 2013 and April 2015.

David Cardoza, Howard and Marcus Grossman and Mr Patnick are also accused of money laundering offences.

The charges stem from a police inquiry into the apparent disappearance of £10.25m which had been loaned by the-then Northampton Borough Council to the football club.

It is alleged the men made false representations to the council that the money would be used solely for developing the club's Sixfields Stadium and an adjoining hotel, which were "untrue or misleading".

The police investigation, code named Operation Tuckhill, lasted nine years.

Anthony Cardoza, 80, of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, is accused of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.

David Cardoza, 54, of Eastbourne, Sussex, is accused of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation, fraud by abuse of position and transferring criminal property.

Howard Grossman, 63, of Bushey, Hertfordshire, is charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation alongside four counts of removing criminal property and a charge of acquiring criminal property.

Marcus Grossman, 37, of Barnet, north London, is alleged to have committed fraud by false representation and transferred criminal property.

Simon Patnick, 54, from Stanmore, north-west London, is also charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and acquiring criminal property.

The alleged theft from the council is part of a wider investigation that 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: "You all face allegations which can only be tried at the Crown Court and therefore I formally send your case to Northampton Crown Court."

All the defendants were granted unconditional bail and are due to reappear in Court on 27 February.

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.