The 42-year-old boss of a letting agency in Hertfordshire has pleaded guilty to running a brothel within a property he rented off his own company.

Sunil Mehta is a director at sales and lettings firm SureLet (Hemel Hempstead) Ltd which trades as Sure Sales & Lettings and which is part of a 15-branch national franchised network.

The company’s website says he joined the business after a career in banking in London working for Morgan Stanley, and was instrumental in setting up the Sure franchising network with a family member.

Mehta, along with 40-year-old madam Graziela McNamee ran the brothel within an apartment at Evans Wharf (pictured, above) in the historic riverside village of Apsley just outside central Hemel Hempstead.

Proceeds of crime

In a separate case during 2017, McNamee was convicted of running several  brothels in London’s City financial quarter and last year was ordered to pay back £300,000 following a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.

Her and Mehta’s unusual business operated between June 1st, 2016 and April 5th, 2017 after which the two were arrested by Hertfordshire constabulary police officers. An investigation by the force discovered that Mehta had rented the property from SureLet under a pseudonym, Steve Denton.

At a hearing at Luton Crown Court, Mehta pleaded guilty to managing a brothel and also two counts of fraud. Police found he had claimed a single person occupancy council tax allowance from his local authority for the property.

Mehta and McNamee are due to be sentenced at Luton Crown Court in June this year.