Buy-to-Let Developer Jailed for Six Months

March 5, 2019
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) led an investigation and ultimately a successful case against a buy-to-let developer who ran unlawful property schemes and also mislead varied investors in African Land and Reforestation Projects. Good news that a continuation of cleaning up the industry is taking place to route out the illegal nonprofessionals.
Sentence passed was 6 months which was reduced from 12 months following the accused, Mr Robert McKendrick, admitting to breaching the freezing orders and providing an account of where the money was held (hope is that much of the investors money will be returned as possible).

McKendrick was said to have mislead investors and operated and promoted unlawfully to gain investors and monies. Also, in breach of a freezing order, he had appointed his wife to manage his portfolio of buy to let properties at a higher rate of commission compared to his previous letting agent payments made. The income from rental was placed in his wife’s’ account and this was not disclosed.

Mark Steward, Exec. Director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, was quoted as saying: “In this case, McKendrick misled investors and then, in contempt of court, failed to comply with court orders requiring him to properly account for the losses.

The FCA will ensure that defendants who mislead investors are held to account to the fullest extent possible.”

Full story available to read on the Mortgage Solutions website.

EAN Breaking News

Breaking News from the team at Estate Agent Networking. Have a new story to share with us? Then please get in contact today! When and where we can we will refer to third party websites with a 'live link back' where news was released first.

You May Also Enjoy

Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove asks government to carefully consider property tax changes

The UK’s largest property platform Rightmove is asking the government to carefully consider the impact of any changes to property taxation to avoid unintended consequences which would risk stalling parts of the market. Key data National property tax Just under a third (30%) of homes for sale in England are priced at over £500,000, and…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

Get Fast and Reliable Basement Flood Cleaning Services

Having water in your basement is awful. It could be because of a storm, busted pipe, or bad sump pump. Whatever the reason, water damage in your basement has disastrous effects if not dealt with. Basement Flood Cleaning Services are what you need. They will dry it out, disinfect the floor, and have your basement…
Read More →
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 21/08/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Providing comprehensive, predictive operational intelligence across all aspects of building operations  JLL (NYSE: JLL) this week introduced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that are now available as an add-on to Prism, its award-winning building operations platform. As part of JLL’s property management technology ecosystem powered by…
Read More →
Breaking News

UK House Price Index summary: June 2025

The average monthly rate of house price growth in June was 1.4%. The average annual rate of house price growth in June was 3.7%, up from 2.7% in May. As a result, the average UK house price remains at £269,000.   CEO of Yopa, Verona Frankish, commented: “June’s figures reflect a market that is steadily…
Read More →
Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2025

Average UK monthly private rents increased by 5.9%, to £1,343, in the 12 months to July 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 6.7% in the 12 months to June 2025. Average rents increased to £1,398 (6.0%) in England, £807 (7.9%) in Wales, and £999 (3.6%) in Scotland, in the 12 months…
Read More →
Breaking News

Industry response to latest inflation figures

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments: “Unfortunately, any increase seen within the rate of inflation does brings very justified concerns to consumers, many of whom are still struggling with the cost of living, which has been steadily rising over the past few years. “Although there is more work to be done to help ensure inflation…
Read More →