• Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech
Stories from SWNS
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
Stories from SWNS
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Property tycoon jailed after claiming £74k in benefits while running a £1m housing empire

by
November 23, 2012
in News
0
Benefit fraud landlord Adrian Callen

Benefit fraud landlord Adrian Callen

0
SHARES
81
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Benefit fraud landlord Adrian Callen
Benefit fraud landlord Adrian Callen

A greedy landlord has been jailed for six months after claiming £73,500 in benefits – while building a £1 million property portfolio of ten homes.

Adrian Callen, 57, claimed he had no income other than benefits and had just £250 in savings.

But the grandfather was actually raking in thousands of pounds in rent from ten flats he had bought across the South West, worth around £100,000 each.

Bristol Crown Court heard how he renovated the properties and used rent to pay for huge mortgages he had taken out on them during the eight-year scam.

His property empire – which he began to build in 2002 – is now crippled with £800,000 of mortgage debt due to the crash in the housing market, the court was told.

Callen, of Bedminster Down, Bristol, was caught out when one of his tenants applied for benefits and officials launched an investigation into his finances.

He was arrested and later admitted nine counts of fraud, telling police he had seen buying properties as a “chance to better himself”.

His honour Judge Julian Lambert jailed balding Callen for six months, slamming him as a “greedy” cheat.

He said: “Your offending continued over a period of about eight years. Eventually you came to own 10 properties and received rent from those.

“You had a gross worth of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“What you did was deliberate and greedy. Yours was one of the worst types of this fraud. This behaviour makes honest folk who struggle to get by feel sick.

One of the homes in Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset that Callen  owned while fraudulently claiming benefits
One of the homes in Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset that Callen owned while fraudulently claiming benefits

 

Glenwood Mansions Weston-Super-Mare, where Callen  has another property
Glenwood Mansions Weston-Super-Mare, where Callen has another property

“Your behaviour incites ill feeling towards genuine benefit claimants who deserve sympathy and compassion. Your claim was fraudulent from the outset.”

Bristol Crown Court heard how Callen first began claiming council tax benefits for his  three-bedroomed detached house in Bristol after his estranged wife moved out.

Callen started claiming the cash when he became the sole carer for his then four-year-old grandson after social services told him he would have to quit his job to care for the boy.

He signed forms stating that he had no savings, properties or investments – despite £29,000 in savings he had stashed in a bank account.

But in April 2003 he purchased a flat in Splott in Cardiff for £38,000 without a mortgage and sold it a year later, in July 2004, for £107,000.

Callen continued to claim benefits – each time stating that he had no savings other than £250 and owned no properties other than his home address.

In November 2004, Callen bought a flat at Glenwood Mansions in Weston-super-Mare for £67,500, purchasing another flat there in August 2005 for £71,500.

The following December, Callen purchased a flat at Weston Lodge in Bristol for £113,000.

He snapped up a flat for £122,000 in Knightstone Road, Weston-super-Mare, in January 2006 and bought another flat at Glenwood Mansions in the town for #120,000 in February.

In June 2006, Callen paid £102,000 for a flat on Meadow Street in Avonmouth.

Along with his son, Callen took out three mortgages worth £300,000 to purchases three flats at Warden Road in Bristol in February 2007.

His final purchase was a flat on Locking Road in Weston-super-Mare for £86,000.

Callen secured huge mortgages for the properties by telling lenders he had an income of £31,000 – £16,000 from a retirement fund and £15,000 from renting.

Alan Fuller, prosecuting, told the court that Callen repeatedly lied about his income, savings and investments as well as telling officers he did not own any properties.

But landlord finally came clean when he was arrested in February 2011 after one of his tenants submitted a benefits claim.

His fraud was revealed to be £59,886 in come support, £8,923 in council tax allowance and £4,882 in Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Mr Fuller said: “He said social services had completed the forms initially and he had simply signed them.

“He thought there was nothing wrong about owning properties. He said he had no money after leaving work and took a chance to better himself.

“He admitted he owned ten properties that he rented out. The rent was paid into his bank account.

“He said he knew he had done wrong and he would take it on the chin.”

Callen, who has a previous conviction for obtaining a property by deception in 1992, has been repaying the amount he fraudulently claimed, the court heard.

But his finances have been left “in the red” – with his properties “mortgaged to the hilt” with £800,000 outstanding.

He is currently £5,000 overdrawn, while his credit cards are “maxed out”.

Timothy Rose, mitigating, said: “He is mortgaged to the hilt. He is in an utter mess. It is estimated that he owes up to £800,000 in mortgage debt.

“Some if not all of these properties are in negative equity. He is being pursued by bailiffs and he has handed me a whole sequence of ‘red letter’ letters, demands.

“He is not in fact a sophisticated man despite what he has done.”

He said Callen suffers from depression, fully accepts responsibility for his actions and has already started paying back his ill gotten gains.

Previous Post

Eight-day-old baby was killed by ‘jealous’ Jack Russel after it escaped from the locked KITCHEN

Next Post

Thug jailed for five years after sparking armed police raid when he was carrying a DILDO

Next Post
Ian Poulton sparked a police operation when seen carrying a dildo they thought was a gun

Thug jailed for five years after sparking armed police raid when he was carrying a DILDO

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected test

  • 121 Followers
  • 60k Followers
  • 190k Subscribers
  • 23.8k Followers
  • 99 Subscribers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

March 5, 2014
The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

January 21, 2014
The horses thunder towards a jump at the Grand National

Amazing racehorse names which never made it

April 23, 2014
HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

January 14, 2019
Chris Fear, 33, outside the Coral betting shop which is refusing to pay out on his 485/1 winning bet

Boycott Coral! Bookmaker faces protest after refusing to pay out on a football fan’s 485/1 bet

184
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

147
Women feel invisible to the opposite sex at the age of 51, researchers found

Women begin feeling invisible to men ‘when they turn 51’

138
UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

105
Why are UK mortgage approvals at an all-time low?

Why are UK mortgage approvals at an all-time low?

March 28, 2023
Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

March 10, 2023

Recent News

Why are UK mortgage approvals at an all-time low?

Why are UK mortgage approvals at an all-time low?

March 28, 2023
Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

March 10, 2023
SWNS

SWNS all rights reserved. Copyright 2020

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Auto
  • Blog
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Gaming
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Pictures
  • Property
  • Review
  • Sport
  • SWNS
  • Tech
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Recent News

Why are UK mortgage approvals at an all-time low?

Why are UK mortgage approvals at an all-time low?

March 28, 2023
Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.