Fraudster jailed for 14 years after attempting property scam in Hitchin
He almost got away with it until a retired police officer spotted the scam
A man who tried to steal a house in Hitchin using fake companies and false identities has been handed a 14 year prison sentence.
Leslie Gayle-Childs, 59, formerly of Winnington Close, North London, was sentenced on Friday 6th February for two counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of perverting the course of justice.
Gayle-Childs set up a fictitious company to file claims on a property left without a will by its deceased owner in 2006.
According to Hertfordshire Constabulary, Gayle-Childs used this fake company to assert that the late owner had taken out a loan with the company using the Hitchin property as collateral.
He then made an application to court in July 2020, arguing that ownership should be transferred to the loan company due to the unpaid debt, and sought the eviction of a tenant living in the house.
Initially, the claim was upheld by the court.
However, the tenant was advised by retired police officer DC Quinn to report the situation as a fraud offense.
This led to a substantial investigation by Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit, which probed the offshore shell companies Gayle-Childs had established.
Several civil cases that he had instigated were also reviewed.
Detective Constable Sian Beames from Hertfordshire's Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit expressed relief at unraveling the fraud: “Leslie Gayle-Childs saw an opportunity to obtain a property with no registered owner and set up an elaborate fraud, involving false identities and offshore shell companies to back up his web of lies."
DC Beames highlighted the impact on the tenant: “The tenant of the property was faced with eviction and suffered terribly because of these actions. Gayle-Childs knew enough to complicate and confuse the legal process which initially led to the court awarding him ownership of the property."
Her final remarks noted the role of retired officer DC Quinn in uncovering the deceit: "Thanks to the intervention of retired police officer DC Quinn, we were able to unravel deceit planned and executed by Gayle-Childs."
In addition to his sentence, a Criminal Behaviour Order has been applied against Gayle-Childs to restrict any offending after his release.