A Derby-based property manager who stole more than £31,000 from a grieving widow and used the money to gamble, has been ordered to pay her back just £1.
According to a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Derby Crown Court, Rohan Gorman used fraud to strip his victim of a total of £31,257.73. However, the property manager does not have any property to his name to pay the woman back the money he stole, having spent the entire amount to fund his gambling addiction and chase the big win.
As a result, the 43-year-old man was ordered by the court to pay a nominal £1 to the elderly woman. He is given 28 days to pay the amount and if he failed to do so, he would be sent to prison for one month.
Under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the police are given the chance to apply for cash to be seized from criminals who have gained profit from any ill-gotten gains. Most of the time, the measure is used after criminals, who have been sentenced, need to sell some of their property to pay some cash back. Usually, the money that is seized is split by the Government and the Police 50-50 and is often used to fund local community projects.
An interesting fact is that in case a convicted criminal suddenly obtains money later in life, police can still apply to have the amount seized.
The Property Manager Stole the Money and Spent Them All to Gamble and Chase Big Win
At the time when the sentencing hearing of Mr Gorman took place at Derby Crown Court in June, the court heard that the man collected rent from the victim’s properties and lied to her about the reasons why she was not receiving her share from the rent. As it was also heard by the court, he used the entire amount on gambling, feeding his problem gambling behaviour and chasing a big win.
The man even moved into one of the properties owned by the plaintiff and lived there without paying any rent, sending the elderly woman an email from a tenant who did not exist saying the property manager had “disappeared to Scotland”.
At June’s hearing, Recorder Balraj Bhattia handed Rohan Gorman a 2-year imprisonment sentence saying that what he had done to the grieving widow was an abusive, dishonest and horrible act. Bhattia also highlighted the fact that the property manager treated the entire rent as his own money rather than gathering only his percentage of the amount. The court found that the man had used the entire amount of rent he collected from the 66-year-old woman’s properties to gamble and because of his gambling addiction, he would have nothing to pay her back the money he had stolen from her.
As the court heard, the victim and her husband owned 10 properties that were managed by Houseshop, a property management firm that employed Mr Gorman at the time. The victim’s husband passed away in May 2014, and after his death, the plaintiff tristed the defendant to look after the aforementioned properties and collect the rent for her. Under the provisions of Mr Gorman’s agreement, he would take 7% of the income for himself.
He started lying to the grieving widow in 2015, thinking of various excuses why she was not receiving the money from the monthly rent. At the time he was arrested and interviewed by the police, Mr Gorman opened up about his problem gambling. He made a guilty plea to fraud by abuse of position.
- Author
Daniel Williams
