Underhanded real estate deals in Spain, at one time, was to be expected as much as the sun in the month of August. However before the crash its bad reputation had been improved upon dramatically and it continues to do so. It is therefore surprising to hear that two executives from an institutional British Bank are at the centre of an investigation for swindling funds through mortgages awarded for Spanish property.

The two individuals in question have naturally been suspended over the allegations of their questionable activities. Alan Dawson and Simon Clark were responsible for lending to clients for the purpose of purchasing property in Spain. Popular areas were Estepona and Marbella.

Using their positions of authority within the RBS, they would take advantage of their leads by passing them through to what were labeled as ‘trusted agents’, earning themselves thousands of euros in commissions.

Commissions would be in the region of a 25% share of the commissions paid for each real estate purchase made. The purchaser would be oblivious to the transactions taking place behind the scene, not surprisingly since they were dealing with a respectable high street branch.

To add insult to injury, the timing of the alleged dealings are suspected to have taken place not long after the RBS was saved from collapse in October of last year, receiving a life-line of 20 billion pounds from the treasury.

The downfall of the bank was partly blamed on the cavalier banking culture, which was accepting of the encouragement of bankers taking unnecessary risks.