Mr Ali Ali failed to declare he also had an interest in a property worth £180,000 when he made the application to Dudley Council in 2015, according to the Express & Star. He moved into the council house in Halesowen, Dudley with his family and three children a year later.
Ali had bought a former rectory in Bundle Hill nearby in February 2013 with his brother-in-law to renovate as a business deal. He was named on the mortgage but when he applied for the council house two years later he denied owning or having owned any property for the previous ten years.
The fraud came to light when Ali applied to the council to buy the house under the Right to Buy scheme. The applications are checked by the council’s fraud team. Not only did Ali and his family lose out on the £56,000 discount on the £160,000 council property, but they also lost their home.
Ali’s solicitor Mr Mohammed Hafeez said Ali had split up from his partner in 2013 at which time he struck the property deal with his brother-in-law. According to his solicitor, soon after the deal Ali realised he could not afford the mortgage and his brother-in-law agreed to take over the property and paid rent to cover Ali’s share until another deal was made.
When he applied to buy the house under the Right to Buy scheme he was no longer tied to the old rectory.
According to reports, Ali admitted he should have revealed his links to the rectory when making the initial application to get on the council house list.
He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation. The fraudster narrowly avoided jail. Instead he was given a six-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months and 100 hours unpaid work.
Judge Amjad Nawaz said Ali had been able to jump the queue, making those with legitimate claims wait for longer.
