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Luxury homes con
A conman moved into luxury homes in Kensington and Chelsea as a tenant, stole the owners' identities, then sold their properties to net a fortune.
Steven Rice, 43, from Basingstoke, used false names to rent two houses worth a combined total of ã5.5m.
He took the identities of his landlords, sold one of the properties for ã1.47m and obtained a loan for ã500,000 on the other.
Rice was only caught when he tried to transfer the proceeds of the sale into an account in Dubai, and bank staff spotted that he was using a fake driving licence in the name of the 83-year-old owner.
The owner of a yacht refitting firm based in Majorca and Singapore now faces jail after admitting a string of fraud and money laundering charges at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday (29).
Judge Deborah Taylor remanded him in custody ahead of a sentencing hearing on August 26.
Rice also denied further charges of fraud and possessing an article for use in fraud, and the counts were left to lie on file.
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