UK Accountant Steals Home and Savings from Man to Fuel Gambling, Sentenced

A British accountant from Leeds was sentenced to five years in prison over the misappropriation of a client’s life’s savings, fraudulent transfer of home property, and attempted theft of another holiday property. The fraudster tried to excuse his behavior with his gambling addiction. The court didn’t bite.

As a result, the 73-year-old will now spend a considerable time in prison for his heinous crimes. The accountant could have been normally shown leniency, given his age, but the man targeted a client with learning disabilities, which made the crime particularly disturbing, the BBC News explained in a news report.

Victim Loses Family Home and Savings

The man who lost his life savings was defrauded out of £34,000 or $41,800 and an inheritance home which the criminal took from him. Sukhdev Singh, the culprit, has reportedly spent the better part of the money on gambling, struggling with his own addiction, he argued.

He also used some of the money to buy expensive jewelry and cover school fees. It’s said that Singh owned a bank account in India and managed to remit some money there to further cover his tracks.

Singh showed his victim, an unidentified man in his 50s, little compassion. He took advantage of the fact that the victim had the mental capacities of a 12-year-old child and acted on that to take the victim’s house from him. The victim inherited a  £300,000 ($370,000)-property in Harrogate. However, the conniving accountant convinced him to transfer the property and then forced him to pay rent to stay there.

Singh went even further. The victim has also left a Spanish holiday resort but authorities in the country were aware that something was off as Singh failed to produce the necessary documentation while he was attempting to transfer the property in his name. Spanish authorities didn’t see any proof that Singh had paid for the property and was, therefore, denied the right of transfer.

The victim also had a savings account in Gibraltar. Singh and the man traveled to Gibraltar together and Singh convinced him to transfer the money to the accountant’s bank instead.

Heartless Man Gets What He Deserves

The victim’s house continued to fall in disrepair, though, which prompted him to seek help independently from Singh. He called the Citizen’s Advice Bureau with officials quickly becoming suspicious of the circumstances of the house and the man living there.

The case quickly led to the involvement of detective constable Ian Sharp who began untangling the mystery. Sharp argued that Singh was one of the worst criminals he had met, with the man acting arrogantly throughout the entire investigation and attempting to further obfuscate what he had done.

While Singh has been handed down a lengthy penalty at the dawn of his life, the police still need to work to restore as much of the victim’s property as they can. They will start with confiscating any assets that Singh may have and offer them back as restitution to the victim.