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.
4
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."
4
4
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
31 minutes ago
- The Sun
Woman dies and nine injured in horror M4 crash as motorway shut ‘for most the day' with cops launching urgent hunt
A WOMAN has died in a car crash that hospitalised nine other people last night. The fatal crash happened on the M4 between junctions 16 and 17, just before 11.30pm last night. 1 A womanin her 40s sadly died at the scene, and another woman in her 70s was seriously injured Five other people in the car had minor injuries. There were also three people travelling in the second car who were hurt and were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Wiltshire Police's Serious Collision Team are at the scene carrying out an investigation into what happened. The motorway is likely to be closed westbound for most of the day, likely causing disruption for a large number of people. Cops received reports that a white vehicle may have been involved and left the scene. Any witnesses to the collision or anyone who may have dashcam footage are asked to contact the serious collision investigation team on 01225 694597, quoting log number 399.
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Grantham night shelter could reopen after rough sleeping rise
Council officials are in talks to reopen a night shelter following an apparent increase in the number of people sleeping rough in Ark provided temporary accommodation for rough sleepers between December and February last winter. South Kesteven District Council's executive member for housing, Councillor Virginia Moran, said discussions were under way with the charity to provide short-term accommodation for rough sleepers, who had become "more visible" in the to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), it is estimated there are between 10 and 12 active encampments in public open spaces across Grantham. Speaking during a Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, Moran said: "Rough sleeping in Grantham has become more visible recently, with tents in public areas. "All individuals are known to us, though many have complex needs and have exhausted formal housing options."She said the effectiveness of reopening the night shelter remained uncertain, given past refusals by homeless people to use it and behaviour-related exclusions, according to the LDRS. The council's head of service, Sarah McQueen, told the committee: "We want to have provision for those that need it. "We're going to look at trialling it for a bit to see who is interested in taking us up on the offer."St Vincent's ward councillor Charmaine Morgan said: "Virtually every park within Grantham now has somebody living in a tent."She added some individuals had been taking drugs, threatening violence, harassing schoolgirls and starting fires.A meeting with partners, housing officers and members has been scheduled for 23 June to discuss how the situation can be addressed legally, safely, and fairly. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Police make renewed call over John 'Goldfinger' Palmer murder
Detectives have renewed their appeal for information 10 years after the murder of notorious and once wealthy criminal John "Goldfinger" 65-year-old was shot six times in the garden of his woodland mansion in South Weald near Brentwood at about 17:30 BST on 24 June earned his nickname after being accused of melting gold from the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery and he scammed thousands of timeshare owners out of millions of pounds in Tenerife in the Police says his family still "rightly want answers" and believes loyalties in the "criminal fraternity" have changed. "His killing was a brutal, planned execution," said Det Supt Stephen Jennings of the Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate."Over the years there has been much commentary, media coverage and even television programmes speculating about his connections to the underworld, high profile crimes and his past."But whatever someone's past, John was a father, partner and much-loved by his family." In 1983, armed robbers stumbled upon £26m worth of gold, diamonds and cash in the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow was found not guilty of conspiring to handle the stolen bullion at an Old Bailey trial in 1987, but the Met Police continued to investigate him. He amassed an estimated fortune of £300m in the 1990s, with a portfolio including mansions, helicopters, restaurants, a £750,000 yacht and classic in 2001, he was jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to defraud, having scammed about 16,000 couples out of millions on Tenerife. In May 2015 - a month before his murder - Spanish prosecutors charged him with fraud, firearms possession and money laundering in relation to his timeshare believe a contract killer watched him through a spyhole in his fence at his property, before scaling the fence and shooting him at the only spot not covered by however, two police officers assessed his death as non-suspicious, owing to his wound from gall bladder surgery which took place a week earlier.A post-mortem examination on 30 June revealed he was actually shot in the chest, abdomen, arm, elbow, back and two officers later faced disciplinary action and Det Supt Jennings has previously admitted the force failed to carry out "background checks on John" and did not "really check the body well enough". In 2019, other individuals were found guilty as part of the same Spanish fraud indictment that Palmer had been charged with."We know the key to solving John's murder lies within the underworld and we have always suspected it may have been linked to the fraud trial," said Det Supt Jennings."A lot has changed within the criminal fraternity, including loyalties, and people may now feel able to come forward."A 43-year-old man from Rugby, Warwickshire, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder in 2015, but was released without February 2017, detectives said a 50-year-old man from Tyneside, who lived in southern Spain, was questioned on suspicion of murder in what was a voluntary interview. He faced no further with information can call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via its website Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
