Legal News

A former estate agent who rented out his parents’ home and fraudulently accepted deposits from potential tenants has been given a two-year suspended sentence.

The Evening Standard newspaper reports that 28-year-old Sumreet Vij from Ilford placed advertisements on classifieds website Gumtree – and showed potential tenants round his parents’ house while they were out. He told tenants that the furnishings belonged to tenants currently renting the property – and accepted deposits from 14 tenants desperate to rent the house.

Vij made £20,875 out of the housing fraud to fund a gambling addiction, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.

He delayed the moving-in date for each tenant by claiming that works had to be carried out on the house before they could move in.

Vij was jailed in January for the offence – but had just completed the licence period of six months when he started to reoffend, the court heard.

In August 2014, he was charged with a further seven offences – and went on to commit a further six offences while on bail.

The prosecution told the court:

“With his background as an estate agent, he knows the type of people who can’t afford to do anything but rent – so we know exactly the sort of effect this behaviour has on people’s lives.”

The court heard of two victims of Vij’s housing scam, including the case of Hassan Khan, who gave Vij £2,600 as a deposit on the house. As a result, Mr Khan and his family had to fall back on social housing and his daughter lost her place at Woodford County Grammar School.

The court also heard that Hannah Owusu had enrolled her three children in schools local to Vij’s parents’ house – but when the scam was uncovered, her children lost out on half-a-term of schooling.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court last week, Vij pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud, and asked for one further offence worth £500 to be taken into account.

Vij’s defence lawyer told the court that his client now worked for a company manufacturing double glazing – and could afford to pay £500 a month to the victims of his fraud.

“He recognises he needs to be punished,” said counsel for the defence. “But he does have a gambling problem and if he were to go straight to prison and then be released, then there may be a fourth or fifth tranche of victims.”

Judge Joanna Korner sentenced Vij to two years in jail, suspended for two years, and said:

“The frauds you committed were some of the most disgraceful that I’ve ever had to listen to.”

Vij was ordered to repay £1,000 to each of his first 13 victims and £500 to his last victim within nine months.

He was also ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge of £120.

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