Globetrotting fake landlord who swindled desperate tenants out of £200k to fund lavish lifestyle is jailed
A GLOBETROTTING fake landlord who swindled desperate tenants out of £200,000 to fund his lavish lifestyle has been jailed.
Samy Daim, 28, advertised luxury properties he did not own, collected substantial deposits from his victims and then disappeared.
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The former estate agent targeted 11 prospective tenants in total - including teen students - to the tune of £213,180.
He then splurged the cash on luxury holidays around the world, which he bragged about on social media.
Daim has now been jailed for four years and four months after he admitted admitted 11 counts of fraud by false representation.
Inner London Crown Court was told Daim carried out the fraud between 2023 and 2024.
He would book Airbnbs to advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla before getting a woman to show the victims around the property.
Daim then asked for a year's rent upfront along with a 25 percent deposit before pocketing the cash.
He even used his own flat in London for the scam - even though his own landlord was trying to boot him out for not paying rent.
The fraudster shared a string of photos on social media while spending his ill-gotten gains.
This included a picture of him feeding an elephant in Thailand and posing next to an infinity pool on an expensive trip to propose to his girlfriend.
Daim also posed on a Jeep beside the beach at Key West in Florida.
His scheming came to an end when he was arrested while attempting to get on a plane to Thailand at Heathrow.
The amount he stole from his victims ranged from between £10,730 and £19,800 - totalling £204,180.
Some of the victims, who were as young as 18, managed to reclaim the money through their banks.
But one of the prospective tenants was an international student who never got his money back.
Judge Silas Reid told Daim: "All of the victims suffered considerable detrimental impact and the amount of money was significant.
"Two of the victims suffered serious detrimental effects, one of them his wife was pregnant and they were left in a situation almost unable to afford food, and of course they still needed to secure accommodation.
"One was recently bereaved which meant your actions had an even greater impact.
"One victim suffered their hair falling out, disrupted sleep and one lost his job and had nowhere to live."
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