A London council tenant who for a period of seven years failed to disclose that he owned three houses, has been given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay over £80,000.

Jamir Hussain of north London was sentenced to two years imprisonment suspended for two years, fined £10,000, ordered to pay £73,767 in compensation, as well as Camden council’s costs of £4,745.

The fraud came to light when Hussain applied to purchase his Camden council flat; council tenants must inform the council if they own any property, but Hussain failed to do so.

He gave up possession of the flat when the fraud was detected. 

But the judge at a court hearing this month said Hussain’s moves were motivated by greed and could have resulted in him unfairly purchasing a property at a substantial discount and at the expense of the genuinely needy who could have made use of it.

The court also heard that Hussain was in the process of selling one of his properties in order to pay off loans he had taken out to pay the compensation.