A director of a lettings agency has been fined for creating false tenancies in a bid to avoid paying council tax on empty properties.

Satinderjit Singh Thiara of Telford appeared before the city’s magistrates court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of submitting false tenancy agreements contrary to the Fraud Act 2006.

The court was told in July 2018, Singh – one of the owners of First 4 Let (Telford) Ltd – produced two false tenancy documents for a property in the town. 

One document was for a tenant who had left, the other for someone who didn’t exist. 

He also submitted a 12 month tenancy agreement for a property in the name of a couple after they had left following the end of their tenancy.

By creating the false tenancy agreements, Singh made the people who were illegally named in the documents liable for council tax that he should have paid. The court heard Singh’s actions caused distress to individuals who he tried to make liable for his debts

He was fined £1,000, ordered to pay £2,183 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

A council spokesman says: “Council tax evasion is very serious. Let this be a warning to anyone else thinking of doing it in the future.”