Dwarf fleeced tenants out of £7,000

A dwarf landlord who stole £7,000 from potential tenants after advertising his own home on the website Spareroom.com was spared jail.

Muhammad Mawji, 27, ran off with the deposit from four victims including a desperate family hoping to stay at the house in Ilford, east London.

He used the cash to fund his gambling addition and is now unable to pay any of the money back.

Mawji, who has dwarfism, was handed a suspended sentence and ordered to complete 30 sessions of ‘thinking skills’.

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard he created a profile on the popular rental site Spareroom.com and offered bedrooms in his house at 57 Brook Road, Ilford for £1,100 per month.

He showed the victims round the home asking for an up front deposit once he accepted their offer.

With the cash in his pocket he would then ignore them, putting the house on the website again.

One victim, Abdul Khalid was desperate to secure a room for him, his wife and three-month-old daughter, coughing up £5,400 in deposits and rent advances to Mawji in July 2015.

Yet having paid Mawji in cash, he couldn’t secure a move in date with him and was unable to get his fees back.

Robert Drange lost £1000 after paying Mawji a deposit for another bedroom in the house.

Yet after Mawji delayed the move-in date, Drange asked for his deposit back getting no response from Mawji.

Zaid Farabi viewed the room on 11 August 2015 and immediately gave Mawji £300 to secure it.

When Mawji demanded a guarantor, Farabi’s brother sold thousands of pounds worth of jewellery to cover for Zaid’s rental costs.

Mr Farabi was then unable to get in touch with Mawji about moving in.

Irtiza Syed also lost £300 from Mawji’s scam.

Mawji was arrested at the Brook Road house after his victim’s complained to police.

He originally denied four counts of fraud, but pleaded guilty on the first day of trial on 15 May 2017.

Judge Nigel Peters QC said: ‘You have pleaded guilty to these offences and the loss to the victims is some £7000.

‘Whatever happens this defendant is never going to pay a penny back.

‘You pleaded guilty at the door of the court on trial day.

‘Although this crossed the custody threshold I am able to suspend the sentence today.’

Judge Peters told him he had to complete 30 sessions of thinking skills to avoid breaching his sentence.

Mawji, of 57 Brook Road, Ilford, admitted four counts of fraud and was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment suspended for two years.
ENDS