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A rogue landlord who exploited over 100 tenants has been jailed.

Rags-to-riches property tycoon Tahir 'Tony' Khaliq, 49, ran a string of letting agency firms from his office in Bury, Greater Manchester.

But Bolton crown court heard he not only faked home insurance claims and ripped off banks and councils but left scores of tenants in squalor.

His greatest scam was accepting holding deposits from unwitting, multiple prospective tenants all hoping to rent the same house, then claiming they all failed credit checks and keeping the cash.

In 2012 he beamed at Channel Five 'Cowboy Traders' presenter Dominic Littlewood when confronted about his shoddy firm Lancashire Lettings - before darting into his office to hide.

Now he has been jailed for 45 months while office manager Andrew Dickinson, 42, was given a two year suspended sentence.

Judge Graeme Smith told Khaliq: "You instigated and directed several different fraudulent schemes.

"Though some were directed at institutions such as banks and insurance companies, one of them caused harm to those in a vulnerable position."

The court heard Khaliq fabricated letters and tenancy agreements and spun lies to earn cash for his string of firms including Lancashire Lettings.

He ordered staff to accept but never return holding deposits from a string of renters seeking to secure accommodation.

(Image: Channel 5)

He also arranged for fake home insurance claims to be submitted with fabricated quotes and invoices with the help of employee Paul Dickinson.

Prosecutor Andrew Thomas told the court the "blatant" insurance scam worked by submitting genuine-looking but inflated quotes from two invented firms.

Mr Thomas said: "Lies were told about two things: who was living in the property and the fabrication of estimates and invoices for repair work.

"Internal emails showed Paul Dickinson was the author of the bogus documents and Mr Khaliq was involved.

"In reality the works were done by their own handymen at a fraction of the cost."

A second scam saw Khaliq hoodwink prospective tenants by encouraging them to pay a holding fee/deposit of £200 to £400 so a house or flat would be taken off the market.

But secretly cash was collected from several tenants all hoping to individually rent the same property.

Then once the cash was raked in, Khaliq would drop the bombshell that they all supposedly failed a credit check and their money was not refundable.

(Image: Channel 5)

Mr Thomas said Khaliq used the pseudonym 'Jack Daniels' in these transactions in a bid to hide his identity from complainers.

He said: "It was blatant dishonesty. Lies were told to fob off those who wanted their money back.

"Many of the victims were vulnerable people, mainly people on low incomes who were struggling to obtain adequate housing.

"Many of the tenants were on housing benefits and not well off and very often vulnerable because of financial circumstances or other difficulties."

A third scam also saw Khaliq and Dickinson collect rent for 119 properties they managed on behalf of liquidators Ernst and Young - which a court heard they failed to pass on.

Khaliq also instigated a council tax avoidance scheme to skirt round paying Bury and Bolton councils and arranged for counterfeit accountant letters to support a £3million Co-op Bank loan application.

Jailed Khaliq, of Bury, admitted two counts of making an article for use in fraud, two of conspiracy to commit fraud, one of theft and three counts of fraud .

(Image: MEN)

The conman landlord was also ordered to pay back £100,000 and pay court costs of £125,000 and was disqualified from being a company director for 10 years.

Dickinson, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, admitted theft and six counts of fraud and was given a two year suspended sentence.

He was also ordered to pay £24,280 and prosecution costs of £15,000, was disqualified from being a company director for six years and told to complete 240 hours of unpaid work.

Mark Rhind, defending Dickinson, said: He has accepted his responsibility and has expressed remorse.

"He was, in essence, an employee of Mr Khaliq. He was paid a relatively modest salary and did more or less what he was told.

"He did not just engage in what he thought at the time was 'sharp business practices', he accepts now he crossed that line into criminality."

Judge Graeme Smith told Dickinson he was suspending his sentence so he could dedicate his spare time to his 10-year-old twin sons - one of whom is seriously ill.