A man has been fined nearly £500k after lying about his circumstances to secure himself a council property he never intended to live in, before illegally subletting it out for more than a year.
Saeed Yasin Hosseini also abused the Right-to-Buy scheme to get a large discount on the property, which he continued to pretend was his main home, which he purchased in 2014.
Hosseini first obtained the council home on Page Street in Pimlico in 2011, claiming he was a single man living with his parents in temporary accommodation, when he was in fact staying with his wife at her home in North London.
He illegally sublet the property for more than a year between 2013 and 2014.
The fraudster later secured the home through the right-to-buy scheme, insisting it was his main address in order to qualify for a £100,000 discount on the purchase, despite him continuing to live elsewhere.
Westminster City Council pursued three charges against Hosseini in 2023 in relation to fraud.
In September 2024 he was found in contempt of court for breaching his previous restraining order by dispersing his proceeds to seven different bank and credit card accounts.
He appeared at Southwark Crown Court on August 12, when he was sentenced by His Honour Judge Rimmer, who ordered him to pay a total of £494,415.52 within three months.
Hosseini was also handed a seven-month prison sentence suspended for one year, after he pleaded guilty to contempt of court.
Councillor Caroline Sargent said: ‘This is a truly shocking case of someone deliberately and repeatedly cheating the system for their own personal gain. Council accommodation is a vital resource, intended to provide safe and secure homes for people who genuinely need them.
‘Not only did this individual go to great lengths to defraud council resources and taxpayers’ money, but he also ignored previous orders by the court.
‘I commend the work of our Anti-Fraud service for securing this prosecution and hope the harsh penalties will send a clear message that we will not tolerate people abusing the system.’