A man has been ordered to pay almost £500,000 after Westminster City Council successfully prosecuted him for a sustained campaign of housing fraud, according to Westminster Times. Saeed Yasin Hosseini obtained a council property on Page Street in Pimlico in 2011 by falsely claiming to be a single man in temporary accommodation, when he was in fact living with his wife elsewhere in London, before illegally subletting the property for over a year. He later exploited the Right to Buy scheme to purchase the home at a £100,000 discount, again falsely claiming it as his main residence. Hosseini appeared at Southwark Crown Court on 12 August, where he was ordered to pay £494,415.52 within three months and given a seven-month prison sentence, suspended for one year, after admitting contempt of court for breaching a previous restraining order. Cllr Caroline Sargent, Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council, said: "This is a truly shocking case of someone deliberately and repeatedly cheating the system for their own personal gain... I commend the work of our Anti-Fraud service for securing this prosecution and hope the harsh penalties will send a clear message that we will not tolerate people abusing the system."
Tenant fined £500k for subletting fraudulently obtained council property
Councillor Caroline Sargent said:
"This is a truly shocking case of someone deliberately and repeatedly cheating the system for their own personal gain. Council accommodation is a vital resource, intended to provide safe and secure homes for people who genuinely need them.
"Not only did this individual go to great lengths to defraud council resources and taxpayers’ money, but he also ignored previous orders by the court.
"I commend the work of our Anti-Fraud service for securing this prosecution and hope the harsh penalties will send a clear message that we will not tolerate people abusing the system."
You can read Ryan Prosser's article for the Westminster Times in full on their website.
