Two arrested in a major police operation targeting housing fraud in East London

Transcript

00:00A major police operation targeting housing fraud has unfolded in East London.

00:04Two people were arrested on Thursday after hundreds of East London council homes were

00:09allegedly allocated to tenants by corrupt local authority housing officers. The City of London

00:14Police and Barking and Dagenham Council launched a joint bribery and corruption investigation

00:19after receiving evidence of the four-year scam. It's believed many of these properties were

00:23sublet by associates of those housing officers, who found potential tenants through social media

00:28posts advertising affordable housing in Barking and Dagenham. Fraudsters then charged finders fees

00:34and inflated rents, some of which was paid in part back to the council and some was not.

00:39The force's spokesman said officers are now appealing for people who believe they are

00:43victims of the housing scam to come forward, as inquiries into the alleged offences remain ongoing.