Tenant in luxury homes con

12 April 2012

A conman moved into luxury homes in Britain's most expensive neighbourhood as a tenant, stole the owners' identities and sold their properties to net a fortune, a court heard today.

Steven Rice, 43, used false names to rent two houses worth a combined £5.5m in the heart of Kensington and Chelsea. He adopted the identities of his landlords, sold one of the properties for £1.47m, and obtained a loan for £500,000 on the other.

He was only caught when he tried to transfer the proceeds from the sale to an account in Dubai, and bank staff spotted that he was using a fake driving licence in the name of the 83-year-old owner.

Rice – who owns his own yacht refitting firm based in Majorca and Singapore – now faces jail after admitting a string of fraud and money laundering counts at Southwark Crown Court.

Judge Deborah Taylor remanded him in custody ahead of sentencing on August 26.

Rice, of, Basingstoke, Hants, denied further charges of fraud and possessing an article for use in fraud, and the counts were left to lie on the court file.

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