Property fraudster ordered to pay back nearly £1m to victims (From Harrow Times)

Wembley property fraudster ordered to pay back nearly £1m to victims

11:42am Monday 9th July 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

A Wembley fraudster jailed for seven years for a £1.2million property scam has been ordered to pay back two thirds of the cash to his victims.

Dipakray Patel, 53, of Chamberlayne Avenue, set up three property companies that took large sums of money from investors for deals that were never going to happen.

After five investors reported him to police between July 2006 and December 2008, he was jailed two years ago for five counts of fraud worth a total of £1,226,750, although many more alleged victims have come forward since.

At Harrow Crown Court on June 29, Brent Police argued successfully that the bulk of the cash was hidden and recoverable, and Patel was ordered to hand over the money to victims as compensation if it is recovered, or face an extra three years in jail.

Patel had argued that the money had been invested with a property company in America, via a company in India, but police could not trace the cash.

The fraudster was trading despite being disqualified as a director for eight years after two previous companies he ran were wound up in 2004.