A mortgage fraudster’s houses in Glasgow and Ayrshire have been seized by the Crown Office and sold.

The Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) took two properties from 63-year-old Alan Patrick McIntyre, from Saltcoats.

An order to freeze the properties was secured by the CRU in August 2015 because they were obtained through mortgage fraud.

The first, a home in Balornock, was yesterday sold to Glasgow Housing Association for use as social housing.

The second, a property in Saltcoats, was sold to a local couple in February this year.

The total profit raised from the sales, approximately £178,000, will be used for community projects across Scotland.

McIntyre has also been the subject of previous CRU proceedings. In November 2007 he did not defend a court action seeking to forfeit £1,756 which had been found in his house during a police drugs search.

The case was brought on the basis that the cash was the proceeds of drug dealing.

Linda Hamilton, Head of the Civil Recovery Unit, said: “Those who commit mortgage fraud undermine the legitimate housing market and deny honest people the opportunity of buying a home.

“I am delighted that McIntyre has not only been stripped of the properties he purchased in this way, but that they have now been sold and that one has gone to a local couple and the other will be used for the good of the community.

“We will continue to work to find innovative ways of using the Proceeds of Crime for the good of the people of Scotland.”