A bankrupt landlord in the Midlands has been jailed for eight months after failing to tell the Official Receiver about an HMO property he owned in Coventry.

The house at 35 Walsgrave Road, Coventry, which yielded a rent of �1,900 a month for Sukhi Sanghera, was not flagged up by the 52-year-old to officials.

Sanghera, who is based outside Leamington Spa, had been required to reveal all his assets after being made bankrupt in 2017 with debts of over �140,000 and the Official Receiver, and later trustees, were appointed to administer his affairs.

Despite this initial bankruptcy, three years ago the Secretary of State accepted a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking from Sanghera after he admitted failing to disclose both the property to the Official Receiver and a Nationwide bank account.

He has now been prosecuted for these ommissions on four charges contrary to the Fraud Act 2006, and the case '� which had been delayed significantly due to Covid backlogs - has now come to court.

During the proceedings circuit judge Barry Berlin described the former Warwick councillor as a 'profoundly flawed and dishonest man'�who showed a flagrant disregard for the law and authorities'�.

Glenn Wicks (pictured), Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, says: 'At multiple points, Sanghera had the opportunity to be honest and disclose to his trustees that he benefited from a rental property.

'Instead, [he] went to great lengths to conceal the property in Coventry through fraud and deception to avoid paying his creditors what they were owed.

'The courts have recognised the severity of [his] actions and his custodial sentence demonstrates the risks people take if they don't declare all their assets when in a bankruptcy process.'�

During the hearing Sanghera's lawyer said the omission was not dishonest, and that he believed the information submitted to the Official Receiver at the time was accurate.

Read more: How do we get rid of rogue landlords?