Guilty! – Fraudster letting agents duped landlords and tenants

Guilty! – Fraudster letting agents duped landlords and tenants


Todays other news


Two London agents who traded fraudulently through their lettings business and scammed victims out of over £24,000 have been sentenced.

After a lengthy and protracted investigation into the activities of a number of letting agencies, the two defendants – Sultana Akther of Rainham and Skeena Noor Rashid of Beckton – pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading.

This was following numerous complaints linked to Signature London Ltd and Signature London Group Ltd for duping prospective tenants, landlords and existing tenants. 

Victims had rent deposits collected and never returned, holding funds stolen and – in the case of landlords – collected rents not being transferred into their accounts.

Akther and Rashid defrauded victims of at least £24,000 through a range of letting and rental scams.

The sentences given were for Sultana Akther, 14 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months concurrent for each indictment and fined £2,000; Skeena Noor Rashid, 24 months community order (80 hours of unpaid work included).

The defendants were prosecuted following an investigation led by the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team, supported by officers from Barking and Dagenham council

A council spokesperson says: “The accused may have thought they had a fool proof scam which would have made it difficult or impossible for people affected to recover their money. I want to thank our Trading Standards officers for sticking with it and ensuring justice is served.”

And Trish Burls from Trading Standards adds: “Taking advantage of first-time buyers, exploiting homeowners’ desires to move and disrupting the everyday practice of reputable landlords demonstrates the utter disregard the defendants had for the wellbeing of others.”

Share this article ...

Join the conversation: Login and have your say

4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Recommended for you
Related Articles
A lettings agent has received a 12-month community order and...
Foxtons has acquired two small lettings-focussed companies, both of them...
Foxtons has taken the unusual step of using a scheduled...
A London lettings agency has been handed financial penalties for...
New figures published by HMRC show a 7% rise in...
Reeves to slash Right To Buy discount on Wednesday...
A report from Propertymark has laid out the stark and...
Recommended for you
Latest Features
Agents should not panic about the controversial Renters Rights Bill,...
Foxtons says this week’s surprise stamp duty rise won’t deter...
Rightmove is testing an AI-powered tool...
Sponsored Content
In an industry where compliance and client money handling are...
PropTech provider Reapit will announce the latest enhancement to its...
B-hive Block Management Partners Celebrates Major Milestone With Over 100...

Send to a friend

In order to send this article to a friend you must first login. Click on the button below to login or sign up.

No one likes pop-ups ...
But while you're here