Fraudster who sold 'vulnerable' friend's £200,000 home jailed for six years

Ravina Rattan took control of her victim's finances before selling her home from under her

Ravina Rattan showed 'no remorse' for her crimes, police said (Metropolitan Police)

With friends like these… A fraudster who took control of her "vulnerable" friend's finances before selling her £200,000 home from under her, has been jailed for six years.

Ravina Rattan has shown “no remorse for her crimes”, police said after she was found guilty of two counts of fraud by abuse of position and one count of money laundering at St Albans Crown Court.

The “long-term abuse of her position of trust” began in January 2007 when the “vulnerable”, elderly woman who cannot speak English asked her for help after the death of her husband, Scotland Yard said.

The victim was living in a mortgage-free, four-bedroom house in Greenford, West London with her daughter and young granddaughter when Rattan agreed to look after all of her financial affairs, taking possession of her identity documents and banking information, including chequebooks and bank cards in the process.

Four months later a mortgage application was accepted for a loan secured against the victim's property. A mortgage advance of £198,891.25 was then paid into a Barclays Bank Account that was set up in the victim's name but controlled by Rattan.

An investigation by London’s Metropolitan police later established that Rattan had used copies of the victim's signature to complete the application.

No direct debit was set up to pay the mortgage and, although intermittent cheque payments were made, the account fell into arrears and repossession proceedings were started on the home in 2012.

Later that year, the victim came home from work to find the house had been boarded up. Rattan told her there was a gas leak and said the family could not enter the property, refusing to allow them in to get their belongings.

As time went by she provided them with a number of excuses as to why they could not return.

During this period, through the falsification of documents, Rattan sold the property and the proceeds were deposited in a bank account opened in the name of the victim. However, Rattan continued to control the account.

After the victim contacted police in December 2014, officers searching Rattan’s office found a large amount of paperwork relating to the victim, including her bank cards and passports.

They also found a number of blank cheques containing the victim's signature and correspondence regarding the sale of the house.

"This was a sustained and malicious abuse of trust of a vulnerable woman that resulted in the loss of a family home,” Detective Constable Simon Allen, said after the verdict.

"Rattan has shown no remorse for her crimes and has continued to deny any knowledge of the fraud despite the overwhelming evidence against her gathered by investigating officers.

"The sentence handed down by the court today reflects the severity of Rattan's crimes and the devastating result of her fraudulent behaviour."