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OFT bans two East London estate agents

107/07    30 July 2007

The OFT has made prohibition orders against two East London estate agents, Azad Azam and Sheena Khan, banning them from engaging in estate agency work. The decision will not come into effect until the end of an appeal process.

Azam and Khan were directors of London and Essex Estates in Leytonstone. At Kingston Crown Court in September 2006, Mr Azam pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception, one count of using a false instrument, one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and one count of obtaining property by deception. He was sentenced to 39 months imprisonment and disqualified from being a company director for seven years. At the time the offences were committed, Mr Azam was also working as a police officer.
 
Ms Khan also pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining property by deception, one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and one count of attempted obtaining a money transfer by deception. She was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment and disqualified from being a company director for seven years.

The offences related to Mr Azam and Ms Khan representing to both buyers and sellers where a property was being sold for a higher price than was in fact the case, and keeping the difference themselves.

The OFT decided to ban Mr Azam and Ms Khan following receipt of information about their activities from the Metropolitan police.

Ray Hall, OFT Director of Markets and Projects, said:

'Whether buying or selling a property, consumers need to be able to rely on the integrity of their estate agent. If an agent engages in any form of fraudulent conduct, the OFT will take action to prevent them working in the profession. The fact that Mr Azam was employed as a police officer at the time of the offences, and used this position to gain the trust of his clients, makes this case even more serious.'

NOTES

1.The OFT can bar from estate agency work a person who has been convicted of certain specified offences such as fraud, or other dishonesty or violence; or who has committed racial or sexual discrimination in the course of estate agency work; or who has failed to comply with the requirements placed on estate agents by the Estate Agents Act.

2. Before a Prohibition Order is issued, the person concerned has the right to make representations to the OFT as to why the Order should not be made. If these representations are unsuccessful, subsequent appeal can be made to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

3. Adjudicators issue and determine Prohibition and Warning Notices under the Estate Agents Act. They do so on behalf of the OFT, but make individual and independent decisions on fitness based upon the contentions in a Notice, the evidence attached to a Notice and the representations of those to whom the Notices are addressed. Representations may be made in writing and at an oral hearing.

4. An adjudicator determined that Mr Azam and Ms Khan were unfit to carry on estate agency work. Prohibition Orders were made in respect of Mr Azam and Ms Khan on 30 May 2007. The Orders did not come into operation until the period in which any appeal under section 7(1) of the Estate Agents Act 1979, had expired. Mr Azam and Ms Khan had until 27 June 2007 to lodge such an appeal.

5. After an Order has been made, the person affected can at any time, and on payment of a fee, currently £2,500, apply to the OFT for the Order to be varied or revoked.

6. The Estate Agents Act 1979 covers anyone who, in the course of business, is engaged in 'estate agency work'. This means introducing to someone else a person who wishes to buy, sell or lease land or property, and being involved in negotiating the subsequent deal. The work must be in the course of business, whether as employer or employee, and as a result of instructions from a client. The land or property may be commercial, industrial, agricultural or residential. This does not include acting as a letting agent.

7. A public register of Prohibition Orders is kept by the OFT at Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8JX.

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