Plymouth estate agent Paul Rosendale gambled away £12,000 of tenants deposits
A CROOKED estate agent pocketed £12,000 in deposits from new tenants and spent the money on his gambling habit.
Paul Rosendale should have set aside the cash in a special bond scheme so it was kept safe for customers but instead he kept it for himself, a court was told.
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Plymouth estate agent Paul Rosendale gambled away £12,000 of tenants deposits
Rosendale, 42, of Lipson Vale, Plymouth, admitted five counts of theft and was jailed for six months, suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 120 hours unpaid community work.
At Exeter Crown Court, Recorder Mr David Bartlett told him: "You were paid these deposits for various properties and should have passed them on to a secure authority but you kept them for your own devices.
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"I am mindful of your present circumstances in which you are a full-time carer for your partner and that you have no money. For that reason I don't make a compensation order."
Jonathan Barnes, prosecuting, said Rosendale ran an agency called Torbay Residential Lettings and should have passed on deposits to the Deposit Protection Service but instead pocketed around £12,000.
He said the losers are mainly the tenants who should have been able to reclaim the money when they moved but are now unable to do so.
Mr Barnes said: "When he was interviewed he accepted the money had not been paid to the Protection Service and said he had spent it. He said some had gone on wages and some on personal expenditure, particularly gambling."
Paul Dentith, defending, said Rosendale had hoped to be able to repay the tenants from the deposits paid by later customers, but this had not been possible.
He said the deposit scheme was not compulsory at the time and his client got into trouble because he had no experience of running the business, which he took over at short notice from his partner.
He said he is now living on benefits and acting as her full time carer.
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by Wellrid
Saturday, February 16 2013, 12:10PM
“This Man has made a career out of scamming people and companies all his adult life. He also had experience in property management in abroad, where he lived in the early 'noughties', this man has gambled, drink and snorted people's hard earned cash for years. How do I know this, because I to was taken in by his 'charms' and was once in a relationship with this man! All I can say is he finally looks like he has met his match and the child abuser is welcome to him..... 2 crooks together, living on benefits whilst scamming he system some how as it's in their blood!!!!!!!”
by CharlieDodd
Sunday, February 10 2013, 11:07PM
“Gosh don't we all hate landlords, I had one miser who stopped £5 out of my deposit when I left because I was a few hours late moving my stuff out. Got my own back though, I've plastered his name in "Bad landlords" listings all over the internet..;)”
by BS_Hater
Sunday, February 10 2013, 5:37PM
“Another 'PROPERTY PROFESSIONAL' (parasite)..”
by lmmfao
Sunday, February 10 2013, 5:03PM
“Another one of the Heralds "industry experts".”
by CharlieDodd
Saturday, February 09 2013, 11:14PM
“..'He said he is now living on benefits and acting as his partners full time carer'..
Nice move”
by jayce
Saturday, February 09 2013, 11:00PM
“Some of the recorders comments were stretching the truth at the very least, for example the fact that the deposit scheme was not a statutory requirement at the time of the thefts is untrue. My tenant lost £525 in 2010, which was 3 years AFTER the deposit scheme became law. To say that Paul Rosendale was of good character and to discount his previous convictions because they were 'a long time ago' well I really don't know what to say !!!”
by jimjamjonny
Saturday, February 09 2013, 9:52AM
“Gambling can be very addictive and you can spend far more in a bookies in an afternoon than a pub or on drugs, I feel sorry for him, his life is in ruins.”
by jaygeek1
Saturday, February 09 2013, 8:48AM
“Thanks Judge.....................showing how crime does pay...................just give a bleeding heart story and HEY PRESTO no real punishment.
When will the legal system accept that a persons character is determined by how they deal with adversity............if they turn to theft then they are an a**hole and should be punished as such.
Stupid legal bean heads we have in place !”
by Vinnie_Gar
Saturday, February 09 2013, 8:29AM
“This guy engineered a scheme where his customer's money was gambled with no realistic chance of the promised winnings materialising. It was a borrow more to make more arrangement.
However, is that any different to what the Herald does most thursdays in allowing estate agents to encourage debt to make money from hoped for house price rises?
It's just another con trick and, as this chap was an estate agent, maybe he just started to believe his own bull***t.”
by PlymDavey
Saturday, February 09 2013, 8:14AM
“So he stole £12,000 which he spent and gambled away...
He doesn't have to pay a penny back because he is now living on benefits...
His only real punishment is 120 hrs community service...
That works out at earnings of £100 an hour...
UNBELIEVABLE !!!
Crime does pay....in fact it pays about 10 times better than a real job.”