Paresh Raja, owner of collapsed UK mortgage firm MFS, faces a worldwide freezing order limiting his assets to £5,000 weekly spending, following allegations of fraud that triggered the lender's £1.3bn collapse.

MFS administrators AlixPartners secured the order after discovering a network of borrowers tied to Raja, leaving creditors facing an alleged £1.3bn shortfall with £250mn unaccounted for. Major financiers including Barclays, Jefferies, and Atlas SP Partners extended over £2bn to MFS, which claimed to offer loans up to £50mn in days. The freeze comes amid mounting concerns over asset-backed lending standards, echoing warnings from JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon about potential market "cockroaches" following US failures.

Raja's alleged links to Bangladesh property minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, whose family built a $295mn portfolio, are central to the probe. The UK's NCA froze 342 Chowdhury-linked properties worth £185mn in June 2025. MFS's unraveling has intensified scrutiny on underwriting practices, with creditors scrambling to assess collateral amid double-pledging allegations.