A leading Scottish accountant who was involved in a home-loans conspiracy to swindle some of the UK's top financial institutions out of £5m has been jailed for two years.

A leading Scottish accountant who was involved in a home-loans conspiracy to swindle some of the UK's top financial institutions out of £5m has been jailed for two years.

Glasgow-born John Kinnear, 57, was a former treasurer of the British National Oil Company, and an area secretary of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Five people took part in the multi-million pound fraud, which included Northern Rock, Halifax, Abbey National, and the Chelsea Building Society. Most of the assets have not been recovered.

Richard Bendall, prosecuting, told the court the conspirators, acting as guarantors for each other, took out multiple loans to enable them to buy properties they could never have afforded legally. "This case involves a large-scale, systematic and professional fraud on mortgage companies and other lenders who were repeatedly deceived into making advances based on fictitious earnings figures," he said.

Kinnear, now of Copthorne, Sussex, was the "bent" accountant who supplied fictitious earnings figures to others to enable them to get loans they would never have been given otherwise. He had denied responsibility.

Neil Negus, 50, of Singleton, near Chichester, Sussex, described as the ringleader, was jailed for three-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

Barry Stevenson, 34, of Barnham, near Chichester, was the officer manager for Negus's firm, Karnel Management, which was used for the applications. He was jailed for 14 months after admitting conspiracy to defraud.

Mark Pickering, 38, of Lime Drive, Fleet, was described as a "customer" who dishonestly obtained multiple advances by utilising the services of Karnel Management. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and was ordered to do 240 hours of community service work.

Karen Bone, 48, Negus's wife and Stevenson's mother-in-law, was said in court to be a "downtrodden housewife", reduced to little more than a filing clerk for her beguiling husband. She was given a nine-month suspended sentence after admitting obtaining services by deception.

The defendants were arrested last year after police launched an investigation into a home loans scam in the south-east of England. The centre of the racket, which operated for five years, was Karnel Management, which Negus ran with his wife from an office in Midhurst, Sussex.

The court was told that the firm claimed it was registered with the Financial Services Authority, when it was not.

Emlyn Jones, for Kinnear, said his client had a successful accountancy business, and was chairman of the management committee of Copthorne Golf Club.

He said Kinnear faced being barred from working again as a chartered accountant. "The consequences for his wife and daughter are truly terrible. The effect of this on him is to destroy his life, both professionally and socially," he added.

But Judge Peter Moss retorted: "He was an essential cog in the machine."