OP Chandrila is a joint Bribery and Corruption investigation conducted by the Domestic Corruption Unit from the City of London Police and London Borough Barking Dagenham Council (LBBD) Counter Corruption Team, into the fraudulent allocation of affordable housing of LBBD owned properties.

Between 1^st November 2020 – 31^st December 2024, evidence exists that several hundred LBBD properties were fraudulently allocated to members of the local community by LBBD corrupt Housing Officers for personal financial gain.

The housing fraud is not related to the allocation of council housing or the council’s housing allocations department. It relates solely to the allocation of BD Reside properties. BD Reside is a council owned housing company which works in partnership with the council in Barking and Dagenham. Reside provides a range of shared ownership and properties to rent at market and discounted market rent. It does not own or manage any council homes.

Many of these properties were sub let by associates of those Housing Officers. Prospective tenants answered social media adverts and were provided contacts as to how they could obtain affordable housing within the local Barking and Dagenham areas. As part of this process, prospective tenants paid fraudsters ‘finders fees’ and inflated rents. Some rents were paid in part to LBBD and some were not.

If you feel you have become a victim or have information into this fraud and have concerns, then please complete the following information for assistance.

The City of London Police will review your information and will respond to your submission in due course. Thank you for your assistance with this matter.