A house buyer and two solicitors firms were duped by conmen in a sophisticated fraud, a court heard.

Innocent buyer David Sigler bought an £80,000 house in Higher Swan Lane, Great Lever, only to later find out the owner had no idea it had been sold.

The owner, Hashim Atcha, was living abroad and the property was being rented in August, 2009, Bolton Crown Court heard.

His sister, Shanaaz Atcha, was looking after the house.

The fraud only came to light when she discovered documents after the tenants had left, which showed the ownership had changed.

She contacted her brother and discovered he had not sold the house and the police were contacted.

It had been put on the market by people who used Mr Atcha’s personal information to pass the relevant checks.

Geoff Southcote-Want, prosecuting, said: “This was a sophisticated enterprise.

The people had the details of Mr Atcha and were passing themselves off as the owner of the property.”

Yesterday, Ali Shaan appeared in court after pleading guilty to entering into or being concerned in a money laundering arrangement.

He assisted in the fraud by giving the organisers a bank account for the money from the house sale to be paid into, and the money was withdrawn a month later.

The court heard Shaan had borrowed £4,000 from a loan shark to pay gambling debts, but was told he owed them £25,000 due to interest.

They put pressure on him to help in the scam and £55,274 was paid into the account.

He has refused to give the names of the other people involved.

Judge William Morris said: “This is shocking, it appears to be a totally innocent purchase and the buyer could have a huge debt. If everything had been done properly, this would have been revealed.”

He sentenced Shaan, aged 26, of Thornley Close, Oldham, to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months. He was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and go on the new direction activity programme.

He was also ordered to pay £1,200 costs.

Judge Morris added: “This was a bogus sale of a house. The solicitors were duped and the purchaser.

Those who organised this fraud did so in a sophisticated and utterly dishonest way."