OnthemarketBlog YouTube @property1 @onthemarketblog

Russell Baker pleaded guilty on Friday 19 February 2016 to nine offences of fraud in relation to his former estate agency business in Bovey Tracey, Devon. Exeter Crown Court was told by Tom Bradnock, counsel for Devon & Somerset Trading Standards Service, about how Russell Baker, 58, of Ilsington, Newton Abbot, bought a well-known Estate Agents business called Ashby’s.  He then created a web of limited companies through which he operated the business. A significant part of Bakers business was the letting out of properties on behalf of landlords. As part of that process the tenants would hand over a deposit, usually the equivalent of a month’s rent.  Tenancy deposits are meant to be passed to a government approved scheme to ensure that the deposit is properly protected but the deposits never reached the scheme, Baker simply pocketed the money. A number of landlords also allowed Baker to manage their properties for them but they found that they weren’t receivi...