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14/7/25 8:13 pm
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A fraudster found guilty of scamming over a dozen property investors out of at least £113,000 has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
The case throws some much-needed attention on the world of dodgy ‘deal sourcers’ who find and package up properties for those looking to invest in rent-to-rent and traditional buy-to-let properties. The sector has been trying to clean itself up recently.
Jason Cunningham, who is from Cardiff, based his property empire at a house in Reading (main image) and offered investors access to ‘rent to rent’ deals where the landlord is paid a guaranteed income while the ‘investor’ rents the property out usually as an HMO, keeping the difference between the advertised rent and the sum paid to the real landlord.
But while rent-to-rent deals are not illegal, 39-year-old Cunningham has been jailed after being found guilty this summer of charging 15 people ‘non-refundable’ fees to source deals and, when these fell through, refusing to repay the fees.
During the trial at Reading Crown Court, which lasted 10 weeks, some 21 indictments were considered against Cunningham but he was found guilty on seven. These included five indictments of trading fraudulently plus forgery and counterfeiting and also two main fraud charges. The trading entities involved were Source Investment and Property Finders UK.
He was found not guilty on a separate fraud charge, and the jury failed to reach a verdict on four indictments.
Three other defendants in the case were found not guilty.
Evidence used against Cunningham included material from Property Redress, which was used to corroborate what many of the victims of Cunningham’s fraud has said.
The investigation involved investigators from both West Berkshire Council and Bracknell Forest, who say the victims suffered “significant financial harm and stress since the fraud took place".
Main image credit: Google Streetview
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