A Chelsea estate agent who agreed to help a “corrupt Russian official” buy a luxury property has been expelled from the industry by the RICS.
Dion Beard, an estate agent and associate director at Bective Leslie Marsh, who is known as Benson Beard, was filmed last February by undercover reporters who were investigating dirty money fuelling the property boom.
He was approached by “Boris”, who introduced himself as a corrupt Russian government official who wanted to buy a £15.75m five-bedroom house in Draycott Place, Chelsea, with stolen money. Beard would have made around £315,000 in commission for the agency from the sale.
At one point Boris said: “From every contact a little bit I put in my pocket…Stolen funds. Money. Who says? It’s by way of compensation.” He also said there was no way he could be linked to the transaction.
Beard replied: “Don’t talk to me about how it comes here. I don’t need to know.”
“Boris” was in fact anti-corruption campaigner Roman Borisovich filming for Channel 4 documentary From Russia with Cash, which was aired last July, accompanied by his “girlfriend” Nastya – who was actually Ukranian reporter Natalia Sedletska.
Five other firms were also featured: Winkworth, Marsh & Parsons, Domus Nova and Chard. All denied wrongdoing.
The programme sparked headlines: “Agents warned by National Crime Agency” and “London property boom built on dirty money”.
To see the documentary in full click here.
Despite Boris’s admission, Beard continued to offer the property to the Russian, met him a second time, and agreed to introduce him to a solicitor. But the sale did not happen, as Boris withdrew before making an offer, later to reveal his true identity.
In the RICS hearing Beard admitted that he should have realised Boris was suggesting money laundering but said he did not know what was being suggested was illegal. He denied he was dishonest and said it was not unusual for potential buyers to insist upon secrecy and discretion.
He also claimed he had referred to money laundering regulations in the conversation with Boris but that it had been edited out of the documentary.
Related links: Analysis: How to counter money laundering
The RICS disciplinary panel said in its findings that it “was not persuaded by Mr Beard’s evidence and submission that he did not understand at the viewing that the funds which ‘Boris’ proposed to use for the transaction emanated from a criminal of illegal source.”
It ruled “with hesitation” that Beard had not been dishonest by continuing to market the house to Boris as it was a “rapidly moving conversation” and noted that, as Boris was not Beard’s client, he did not have to undertake money laundering checks. It said that it might have been inclined to see Beard’s failure to act as a lack of integrity instead of an act of dishonest, but dismissed the charge of dishonesty.
But the panel said Beard had breached his professional obligation to report money laundering to his firm and to the police.
It expelled Beard from membership of the RICS, after considering as aggravating factors his previous breaches in reporting his continued professional development activity to the RICS, and an unpaid £250 fine arising from those breaches. It also ordered Beard to pay £5,804 in legal costs.
Beard, who lives near Guildford, in Surrey, has the right to appeal within 28 days of the hearing. He was still listed on Bective’s website today, with his biography saying he qualified as a chartered surveyor in 1990 with 20 years of central London experience.
At the time of the documentary airing, Bective Leslie Marsh told filmmakers: “We take this matter extremely seriously, as we do all legislation for our industry, to which we are fully committed.
“As an agent operating in Chelsea, we have a diverse international clientele and encounter a whole range of requests, statements and assertions on a daily basis which we do our best to filter.
“While all our vendors are subjected to money laundering checks prior to marketing, we do not conduct any due diligence on our buyers until there is a reasonable chance of a transaction. In this instance no formal offer was made, so there was no requirement for our process to begin.”
Luay Al-Khatib, RICS director of regulation, said: “All RICS professionals are expected to act with high levels of integrity. On occasions where behaviour has been found to fall short of the standard we expect, we will pursue disciplinary action and safeguard the public interest.
“Following an extensive investigation, this matter was referred to an independent disciplinary panel that had a range of sanctions at its disposal including expulsion from the profession.”
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