Two fraudsters were jailed for a land banking scam that conned unwitting investors out of £3 million.
Omar Eshpari, 33, was sentenced to seven years in prison and Stefan Mitchell, 42, six years after a jury found them guilty of five money laundering charges at Isleworth Crown Court.
The pair conned elderly and vulnerable victims out of their savings to buying plots of worthless or massively overpriced plots of land.
Investors fall victim to a land banking scam when they are pressured into buying small plots of agricultural land as investment opportunities.
The fraudsters advertise these on the internet or contact some over the phone to offer the opportunity.
It’s even been known for land bank fraudsters to take stands at lifestyle and property exhibitions.
Worthless investments
The idea is for the fraudster to sell land in neighbourhoods where house prices are high and which are near towns or close to zones where development has been agreed.
Victims are told that once planning permission has been granted the land can be sold for a massive profit but, in reality, there is no development potential because the land is on a hillside or in greenbelt.
Some land bank victims have even bought land they were told was going to be developed on farmland or in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Eshpari and Mitchell snared 300 victims who were taken in by professionally produced brochures and offices in Central London over a two year period.
One elderly victim, suffering with a terminal illness, lost £300,000, while a retired woman was conned out of £373,000.
Vulnerable targets
DC Dave Parkinson, of City of London Police, said: “The plots of land being sold by the pair were good for nothing and only worth a fraction of what they were charging despite being marketed as being a sound investment with planning permission in the pipeline.
“The fraudsters used every trick in the trade to appear legitimate and then picked off their vulnerable targets over the phone before disappearing with their savings.
“They didn’t care for their victims but only cared about what they could take.”
Commander Steve Head added: “As the UK’s first conviction for land bank fraud it is a landmark moment for everyone committed to combating fraud and this trial sends out a clear message that law enforcement is taking decisive action.
“This was a complex investigation and now Eshpari and Mitchell are being made to pay for their deception with their freedom.”
