Tenant ordered to repay £494,415 for illegal flat rental
Saeed Yasin Hosseini misled Westminster City Council to obtain a Pimlico property before subletting it.
Incident → evidence → outcomeSaeed Yasin Hosseini has been ordered to repay £494,415 after illegally renting out a council flat in Pimlico. He obtained the one-bedroom property in Jessel House, Page Street, in 2011 by misleading Westminster City Council about his circumstances. At the time, Hosseini claimed to be a single man residing in temporary accommodation, when in fact he was living with his wife in a property she owned in Enfield. This case was reported by The Standard.
Between 2013 and 2014, Hosseini illegally sublet the flat, located a short walk from Buckingham Palace, for £650 per month. He later purchased the property under the Right to Buy scheme, benefiting from a £100,000 discount. Following his conviction for three fraud offences in 2023, Westminster City Council initiated Proceeds of Crime proceedings.
Court proceedings and penalties
The proceedings concluded at Southwark Crown Court this month, with Hosseini ordered to repay the sum within three months. He also pleaded guilty to contempt of court for dispersing funds from seven bank and credit card accounts, in breach of a court restraint order issued in 2020. For this offence, he received a seven-month and two-week sentence, suspended for one year.
“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.”
Councillor Caroline Sargent, cabinet member for enforcement at Westminster City Council, stated that Hosseini went to great lengths to defraud council resources and taxpayers' money, and also ignored previous court orders. She commended the work of the council's Anti-Fraud service for securing the prosecution and expressed hope that the penalties would deter others from abusing the system.
Council's ongoing fraud investigations
Westminster City Council has intensified its investigations into housing and tenancy fraud. The council's Corporate Anti-Fraud Service is currently investigating 182 live cases related to tenancy, housing, and right-to-buy fraud. Additionally, the service is handling 116 live cases concerning parking and blue badge fraud.
Questions this report answers
01How much must Saeed Yasin Hosseini repay?
Saeed Yasin Hosseini has been ordered to repay £494,415. This sum relates to profits made from illegally renting out a council flat in Pimlico that he obtained through fraudulent means.
02How did Saeed Yasin Hosseini obtain the council flat?
He misled Westminster City Council in 2011 about his circumstances, claiming to be a single man in temporary accommodation when he was actually living with his wife in Enfield. This allowed him to be allocated the property.
03What action is Westminster City Council taking regarding fraud?
Westminster City Council's Corporate Anti-Fraud Service is actively investigating 182 live cases of tenancy, housing, and right-to-buy fraud. They are committed to prosecuting individuals who abuse the system.
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