Council secures £500k confiscation order against ex-tenant over unlawful subletting

His Honour Judge Rimmer last month ordered Saeed Yasin Hosseini to pay £494,415.52 within three months following a hearing at Southwark Crown Court.

Hosseini has also been sentenced to seven months and two weeks imprisonment, suspended for one year, for contempt of court.

The council said an investigation by its anti-fraud service had found Hosseini had obtained the relevant property in 2011 by misleading the council about his personal circumstances, having claimed he was a single man living in his parents’ temporary accommodation "when in fact he was living with his wife in a property she owned in North London". 

Hosseini was also found to have been illegally subletting the property for more than a year between 2013-14.

He later bought the flat under the Right to Buy scheme, informing the council it was his main address despite living elsewhere, which meant he was entitled to a discount of £100,000 on the sale. 

Following his conviction for fraud in 2023, the council launched Proceeds of Crime proceedings.

In September 2024, Hosseini also pleaded guilty to contempt of court after dispersing monies from seven bank accounts and credit card accounts, in breach of a restraint order issued by Southwark Crown Court in 2020. 

Cllr Caroline Sargent, Westminster Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement, 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.”

Harry Rodd