Tower Hamlets councillor jailed for housing fraud

A former member of the controversial Tower Hamlets First party was jailed for 22 weeks for living in a cut-price council house despite owning a lucrative property portfolio.

Shahed Ali, 45, failed to disclose his ownership of a row of flats and shops in Essex when he was offered the highly-sought-after affordable property in east London.

He even sat in council meetings when the desperate need for cheap housing in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets was discussed.

Ali, who served as councillor for the Whitechapel Ward from 2006, has now been disqualified from his role and the ward will have to hold a by-election.

Ali first applied to the council house register in Tower Hamlets in February 2001 and was added to the waiting list – which now stands at 20,000.

He bought a flat in Manchester Road, Isle of Dogs for £140,000 in July 2002 and bought a row of shops and flats at Connaught House in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex in 2008, following his election to the council in 2006 with the Respect Party.

Ali, who stated on councillor nomination forms that he lived at a house in Cannon Street Road in Aldgate, failed to reveal his interest in the Isle of Dogs property, which fell within the borough.

In 2009 Ali, who was still on the housing list, was offered a council property in Christian Street in Aldgate.

He failed to reveal his ownership of the other properties and moved in – at the expense of desperate families that really needed it.

Ali was elected to the council again in 2010 as a Labour candidate and in 2014 switched allegiances to be elected under the Tower Hamlets First banner.

He remained in the council house until November last year when he was served with a court summons.

Prosecutor Nicholas Syfret, for the Borough of Tower Hamlets, said Ali would never have been entitled to the house if the council had known that he owned other properties.

Mr Syfret said: ‘Throughout the period the defendant was acting dishonestly.

‘He had a continuing duty to disclose this information. A grossly aggravating feature is that he was a councillor. It was a breach of public trust.’

Mr Syfret said it was impossible to put a figure on the loss made by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as a result.

Judge Neil Sanders told Ali: ‘If you had disclosed your property ownership you would not have been given this tenancy.

‘For a period of six years you failed to disclose ownership of three properties. You were acting dishonestly.

‘Social housing is a scarce resource. By your actions you were given accommodation you were not entitled to.

‘People who were entitled to it were kept out of it.

‘What makes this very much worse is that in 2006 you were elected as a councillor in Tower Hamlets. You are elected in 2010 and again in 2014.’

Judge Sanders said that there was no allegation that Ali used his position as a councillor to get the council house.

‘However, the public expect public representatives to act and behave with the highest honesty,’ he said.

‘You knew the housing policy and the great strain on the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in providing affordable housing for tenants.

‘For a period of six years you had this tenancy when you should not have done so.

‘In my opinion this is clearly a case of high culpability.’

‘For six years one or two people who were properly entitled to were entitled to that accommodation were kept out of it.’

‘In your position as a councillor there was a high expectation of you by the public and you had knowledge of the housing problems.’

Ali did not react when Judge Sanders sentenced him to 22 weeks imprisonment.

Will Tuckley, Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets Council, and Returning Officer said: ‘Tower Hamlets is a densely populated London borough with almost 20,000 people on our housing waiting list. Mr Ali’s actions had a significant impact on others and meant that residents in urgent need of housing could not be accommodated.

‘This was compounded by his role as an elected member, in a position of trust, and one where he represented many of the people affected by the housing challenges we face.

‘Tower Hamlets Council will always investigate fraudulent activity and we will pursue legal action whenever we can.

‘I would like to praise the work of the council officers who brought this case to light and who worked hard to see it through to today’s conclusion.

‘Under the rules of the Local Government Act 1972, Mr Ali is immediately disqualified from his role as a councillor for the Whitechapel ward.

‘The council is required to hold a by-election within 35 days of two electors giving notice.’

Ali, of (118) Beccles Drive, Barking, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial on September 26 to one count of fraud by failing to disclose information he had a legal duty to disclose.

He was disqualified from running for office in the next five years.

A proceeds of crime hearing will take place at Snaresbrook Crown Court on March 1 next year.