A former estate agent who posed as a landlord to con would-be tenants out of more than £200,000 has been jailed.
Samy Daim, 28 (main image, inset) advertised luxury properties he did not own, collected substantial deposits from his victims and then disappeared, reports The Sun. He targeted 11 prospective tenants, pocketing £213,180, and then used the cash to fund luxury holidays which he bragged about on social media.
Inner London Crown Court was told Daim carried out the fraud between 2023 and 2024 when he would book Airbnbs to advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla before getting a woman to show the victims around the property. Daim then asked for a year’s rent upfront along with a 25% deposit.
The French national, who is listed on Companies House as a director of Cobblestone Realty Group Ltd and Samy Daim Real Estate Ltd, also used his own flat in London (main image) for the scam - even though his landlord was trying to evict him for not paying rent.
His scheming came to an end when he was arrested while trying to get on a plane to Thailand at Heathrow Airport.
Some of the victims, who were as young as 18, managed to reclaim the money through their banks, but one international student never got his money back.
Daim has now been jailed for four years and four months after he admitted 11 counts of fraud by false representation.
Judge Silas Reid told him: “One victim suffered their hair falling out, disrupted sleep and one lost his job and had nowhere to live. One was recently bereaved which meant your actions had an even greater impact.”
His activities were flagged last year on the 99home.co.uk site which explained that he registered with estate agents offering online rental services, paid their fees, and then advertised properties he did not own at below market value/rent.
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