25th
Apr 2016
A New Malden letting agent who closed down his business with his clients/landlords owed more than £27,000, has been imprisoned for 10 months.
The director of the agents, Giraffe Residential, closed his business in December 2014 and owed seventeen landlords just over £27,000, which he had spent covering his own debts.
At Kingston Crown Court the man was banned from being a company director for seven years and received a prison term of ten months.
The Judge, Timothy Lamb, also instructed that guilty party would have to pay a victim surcharge that will be decided upon in the future.
When issuing the sentence, Judge Timothy Lamb said: “He traded well until 2014, when things took a turn for the worst. The defendant decided to help himself to the monies which he held in trust.
“I take into account the defendant’s family circumstances, I take into account that he is of previous good character.
“However, the defendant became part of a system of retail letting which was created in order to instil trust and confidence. He was plainly not fit to play a part in the system. He abused his position.”
The guilty party used his clients rent and deposit payments to pay off his company’s debts between February and October 2014.
The landlords who were owed the money had no other option than to refund the deposits back to tenants themselves after receiving a letter in December 2014, from the agents, stating that it was going into liquidation and that “no payments can be made”.
Upon receiving many complaints in December, the Police and trading standards started an investigation.
The agent admitted guilt on two counts of fraudulent trading activity at Kingston Crown court.
His Defence, Charlene Sumnall, asked the judge to reconsider the prison term as his wife and three children, the youngest only five months old, would be “at risk”.
She said: “Mr Patel acknowledges that by his actions he had caused distress and worry to those that he defrauded.
“When it [Giraffe] fell into financial difficulty, which is reflected in his pleas, he took money which he knows he shouldn’t have.
“That being said, in the grand total of fraudulent trading cases, in my submission this is towards the low end.”
She said that they will be appealing against the sentence.
Three of the landlords who were owed money attended the hearing in the public gallery, one of which who wished to be unnamed said:“I think it was the right thing to do - he had to accept the consequences of his actions. I had a lot of trust in them and a lot of money.
“It was absolutely shocking that he had taken so much. I haven’t covered the costs, I think it will take me about five years. He made no attempt to pay anything, he had so many opportunities.”
News Archive »