letting agent ordered to pay £25,000

letting agent ordered to pay £25,000

A convicted Surrey letting agent who used his clients’ money to cover his business debts has been ordered to pay £25,000 to compensate his victims.

Chandra Patel, who was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment in April 2016, took rent and deposit payments, held in trust, to the tune of £28,000, whilst trading as Giraffe Properties Limited.

More than a dozen landlords were owed money when Patel ceased trading with some forced to reimburse tenants’ deposits out of their own pockets.

  Following his prosecution, local authority trading standards officers launched a financial investigation to determine whether Patel had any assets that could be confiscated or used as compensation to pay the victims.

An application made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for Confiscation and Compensation, saw Patel appear before Kingston Crown Court earlier this month where it was determined he had sufficient means to compensate his victims, and was ordered to do so within three months.

“We have begun the process of contacting the landlords affected by Mr Patel’s illegal activities so that they can be duly compensated" says a council spokesman.

Including court costs, Patel has three months to pay a total sum of £37,130.85 or face 30 months imprisonment.