A Barking and Dagenham council tenant has been sentenced today (Monday 31 March) to 5 concurrent sentences of 2 years, suspended for 2 years, for deliberately misleading council officers in an application to acquire his council property under the Right to Buy Scheme.
Mr Nosa Ogie of London Road, Barking was found originally found guilty in 2023 but appealed the decision. Following a pre-trial hearing on 6 March 2024, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, he withdrew his appeal and has been awaiting sentencing since. Today, Mr Ogie was sentenced and was charged with four offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and one offence under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 and on top of his suspended prison sentence he was also told he must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £2800.
In February 2023, while processing a Right to Buy (RTB) application made by Mr Ogie, council officers discovered that he had links to L&Q Housing Association and further enquiries showed that he was also the tenant of a one-bed property at Robert Lewis House, Barking.
Joint investigations between officers from the council and L&Q further revealed that Mr Ogie recently put in a Right to Acquire (RTA) application with L&Q for the one-bed property and in neither application did he reveal he held more than one tenancy.
Fraud officers from both organisations commenced a criminal investigation and proceeded with legal action.
In the course of the joint investigation and when the glaring evidence was presented to him, Mr Ogie then handed back the one-bed property without the need for court action as he should have handed the keys back when he was provided the 3-bed property by the council.
Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said: “I would like to appreciate the sterling work of our Right to Buy Sales and Letting team and colleagues from L&Q for being able to unearth this fraudulent and dishonest act.
“The actions of this person have not only deprived another household the opportunity of a roof over their heads, it also shows their dishonesty knows no boundaries. People who think they can get away with fraudulent activity against the council should know that we will find them, and they will be prosecuted.”
Residents can report suspected cases of fraud by visiting https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/report-fraud or calling The Counter Fraud Team on 020 8227 2666