Knight Frank stay quiet after conman is jailed

News Category: Industry News

A tenant who faked his identity when renting through Knight Frank has been jailed for three years after he went on to pose as its owner and sold the property.

Steven Rice, 43, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, assumed the identity of Stewart Knight and faxed through a faked passport to Knight Frank.

This week, Knight Frank said it had no comment on the case, which appears to be the tip of an iceberg, with a highly organised gang at work.

Using his false ID, Rice moved into the house in the exclusive borough of Kensington and Chelsea, owned by former Olympic yachtsman Vernon Stratton, now aged 83.

Rice and other members of the gang, who police are still looking for, changed the locks and offered it for sale for over £1m – less than half its true value.

The four-bed, three-storey town house in Donne Place was sold through a Swiss ‘facilitator’ to developer Pall Mall, the court heard.

Rice was only caught after he tried to withdraw the money after the sale, using a fake driving licence at a branch of the Halifax. He had been attempting to transfer £850,000 of the sales proceeds to an account in Dubai, using a driving licence in Vernon Stratton’s name. A member of staff noticed the licence looked suspicious and called police.

In court, Rice pleaded guilty to possession of a fake driving licence and fake passport, and acquiring criminal property. The court heard that Rice was the front man for a gang who would rent expensive properties before attempting to sell them.

Rice, a managing director of a yacht refurbishing firm in Majorca, was to get £10,000 from the scam

Gavin Ludlow-Thompson, prosecuting, said: “This case involves the plundering of innocent persons’ identities on a grand scale.

“The aim was to get control of high-value properties in the Kensington and Chelsea area and then pose as the vendor of the property to sell it or raise funds by way of a mortgage loan.”

Jacqueline Vallejo, mitigating, said Rice, was the ‘fall guy’ who agreed to participate in the scam because the recession had hit his business.

Jailing Rice for three years, Recorder Philip Bartle QC said: “The fraud in which you played a part was undoubtedly carefully planned and orchestrated.”


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