A conman behind one of Britain’s biggest ever property frauds is facing jail for swindling buyers and splashing the profits of his fraud on supercars, a speedboat, and a life of luxury.
Anopkumar Maudhoo, 45, lured in victims with the offer of deals on repossessed properties and redevelopment of empty plots of land, leading to 75 sales across north London, Hertfordshire, and Essex between 2021 and 2024.
In reality, Maudhoo was only pretending to own the properties and land as he orchestrated a fraud, raking in more than £8.5 million to bankroll his own luxury lifestyle.
Two of the victims were sold the same property in Belgravia, unaware that Maudhoo had no legal right to handle the sale.
The fraudster – who should have been deported from the UK 15 years ago - used a web of aliases for the scam, and when clients complained he sent messages to himself under a different name to pretend that he was taking action.
When investigators from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) caught Maudhoo, from Wapping in east London, and raided properties across central London and Hertfordshire, they uncovered the scale of his fraudulent operation.
Maudhoo, who also went by the name Vincent Lebeouf, used a web of companies to swindle clients, creating the impression he had unique access to repossessed and liquidated properties and was in a position carry out the sales.
He told defrauded victims that he was “waiting for bridging loans to come through” or suffering delays at the bank when they came asking for their money back.
Detectives seized a collection of more than 20 personalised number plates referencing Maudhoo’s other identities, as well as a speedboat and 19 high-value cars, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins.
They found 14 sets of false identity documents, for aliases including Pascal Burns, Yusef Khan, and Vicenzo Conte, and also seized more than £15,000 in cash.
Police also said Maudhoo had been due to be deported to Mauritius in 2010. Detective Inspector Damian Barlow, from ERSOU's Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “The scale of Maudhoo’s offending is truly shocking, and what stood out as we pieced together this investigation is that he paid absolutely no regard to those he was defrauding. Put simply, he was purely focussed on taking victims’ cash and using it to fund his lavish lifestyle.
“Our investigation has involved hours and hours of work as our teams picked through Maudhoo’s lies and attempted coverups.
“Victims in this case have lost significant sums of money, in some cases in excess of a million pounds, and we are continuing to work to ensure all of his assets are located, brought under police control, and used to repay those who Maudhoo targeted.”
Maudhoo pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court to 14 counts of fraud by false representation, 16 counts of possessing a false identity document with improper intention, and one count of perverting the course of justice.
He has also asked for a further 45 offences to be taken into consideration when sentence is passed on 30 June.
