A former letting agent has been ordered to pay a confiscation order of £1m made under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
It follows a financial investigation by Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards.
Harpreet Garcha, who ran property lettings franchises Belvoir in Kettering, Desborough and Corby, all in Northamptonshire, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison in 2016.
The court heard how Garcha, now aged 41, of Bath Road, Kettering, fraudulently generated significant profits at the expense of tenants and landlords by dishonestly increasing the cost of maintenance and safety work.
He was also convicted of money laundering, VAT fraud and insurance fraud. The offences were committed between 2008 and 2012.
At a hearing this month, a confiscation order for £1.006m was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 – the largest confiscation order ever secured by Northamptonshire Trading Standards.
Of that, £51,000 will be paid out in compensation to Garcha’s former tenants and landlords who were victims of his offences.
Garcha will face up to seven years in prison if the order is not paid in full.
Cllr André Gonzalez de Savage, county council cabinet member for public protection, strategic infrastructure and economic growth, said: “This confiscation order against Harpreet Garcha is by far the largest order ever secured by Northamptonshire Trading Standards and is entirely fitting for the shocking level of offending by this individual.
“This is an amazing result for Trading Standards and reflects the hard work of the officers involved in carrying out both the criminal and financial investigation.”
Garcha’s fraudulent business practices first came to the attention of Trading Standards when a landlady made a complaint about being overcharged for routine maintenance at her rented home in Kettering.
Upon querying the cost of safety checks, she had been provided with invoices for £502.50 – these were fakes as the contractor doing the work had only charged £166.25.
New owners took over the Belvoir franchises in 2014. Belvoir itself has not been the subject of any action relating to the case.
Letting agent’s jail sentence over maintenance bills mark-ups after huge investigation
Baffling then that one large corporate agrncy has managed to get away with this for so long without being challenged.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Corporate?? Belvoir is not a corporate!!! It’s s franchise model , so each is independent. I know they now conduct endless audits and compliance checks on each office/ owner.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
im not talking about belvoir, I’m saying it’s common knowledge a large corporate agent marks up on contractor bills so how do they get away with it?!
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
If landlords and tenants were defrauded and a million pound repayment was ordered, why are they only getting around £50,000? What happens to the rest? Will all the landlords and tenants have been compensated?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Will the fox now get skined alive for eating the hens…..
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register