Three solicitors have been acquitted of involvement in an alleged £50m commercial mortgage fraud, while the jury was unable to reach a verdict in relation to three others.

Hardeep Sodhi, who at the time of the alleged offences was a solicitor at Birmingham firm Patwa; Simon Lawrence, at the time a partner at Edgware firm Darlingtons; and Mark Knights, at the time employed at Manchester firm Mace & Jones, were found not guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court following a four-month trial.

The jury was discharged on Tuesday after failing to reach agreement in relation to three other defendants: Fatema Patwa, at the time sole principal of Birmingham firm Patwa, Laurence Ferrigan, at the time a partner at East London firm the CFB Partnership, and Kamran Malik, at the time a partner Birmingham firm A&H.

Sodhi was acquitted of two counts of conspiracy to obtain money transfers by deception and two counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

Lawrence was acquitted of two counts of conspiracy to obtain money transfers by deception.

Knights was acquitted of three counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

The three solicitors on whom the jury failed to reach a verdict all deny the charges against them.

Patwa was charged with two counts of conspiracy to obtain money orders by deception and three counts of dishonestly obtaining a money order.

Ferrigan was charged with two counts of conspiracy to obtain money transfers by deception and two counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

Malik was charged with three counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

Two other defendants, Ian McGarry, at the time a chartered surveyor with Dunlop Haywards Lorenz, and Saghir Afzal, a company director and property owner, had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to obtain money transfers by deception and dishonestly obtaining a money order.

The case followed a complaint made to West Midlands Police by the Cheshire Building Society in March 2006.

The trial related to a series of alleged commercial mortgage frauds worth a total of nearly £50m.

The SFO alleged that the defendants had ‘participated in a series of frauds whereby they dishonestly obtained loans from banks or building societies that were secured on six commercial investment properties’.

McGarry and Afzal will be sentenced on 13 June, by which date the SFO must decide whether to pursue a re-trial in relation to Patwa, Ferrigan and Malik.