A 45-year-old man has admitted to orchestrating one of Britain’s largest property frauds, selling homes and land he didn’t own across London and the Southeast in a sophisticated conveyancing scam that netted more than £8.5 million.

Anopkumar Maudhoo, who operated under multiple aliases including Vincent Lebeouf, recently pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to 14 counts of fraud by false representation, 16 counts of possessing false identity documents, and one count of perverting the course of justice. He has asked for a further 45 offences to be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on June 30.

The fraudster reportedly targeted buyers with supposedly exclusive deals on repossessed properties and redevelopment opportunities. Investigators from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit discovered he had ‘fraudulently sold’ approximately 75 properties since 2021, with victims located across north London, Hertfordshire, and Essex.

Two sold same property

In one particularly brazen example, two separate buyers are said to have purchased the same property in London’s Belgravia, where homes can fetch well over £10 million. Neither buyer was aware that Maudhoo had no legal right to sell the property.

To create the appearance of legitimacy, Maudhoo established a network of companies that claimed to have exclusive access to repossessed and liquidated properties. When clients raised concerns, he would exchange messages with himself using different aliases, pretending to be his own manager or a contact in the planning or conveyancing process.

Victims in this case have lost significant sums of money, in some cases in excess of a million pounds.”

Detective Inspector Damian Barlow from ERSOU told the Mail: “The scale of Maudhoo’s offending is truly shocking. Victims in this case have lost significant sums of money, in some cases in excess of a million pounds.”

Following his arrest in September 2024, investigators seized numerous luxury assets including 19 high-performance cars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins, a speedboat, personalized number plates, and more than £15,000 in cash.

Court documents revealed that Maudhoo, originally from Mauritius, had 25 previous convictions for fraud and had been due for deportation in 2010. He has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on 30 June.

Image: Shutterstock and Essex Police