A council tenant renting out their Soho flat on AirBnB after secretly moving to France was among more than £1m of fraud from Westminster City Council in a year.
In one instance, the team investigated a tip-off where a council flat in Kemp House, Soho, was being rented out on Airbnb.
Investigators found the tenant had returned to France, his birthplace.
They also found £12,000 had been paid to an unknown third party believed to have assisted with the Airbnb operations.
The tenant was interviewed under caution and blamed the unknown third party for subletting his flat, claiming he was unaware of the Airbnb payments.
The council issued a possession order due to non-occupation and unauthorised subletting.
A judge awarded possession of the property within 14 days and fined the tenant £12,890, based on his Airbnb income.
It was among more than £1m of fraud in a single year, identified by the Westminster City Council report.
The Central London council said the notional value includes housing and tenancy fraud, parking fraud and staff working two jobs at the same time.
A council worker kept quiet about still receiving a salary despite having left, while another employee at the same authority was moonlighting without permission.
The council's Corporate Anti-Fraud Service (CAFS) investigated 468 cases, including 416 new referrals, and concluded 331 between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025, the council fraud report shows.
Concluding a case could mean supporting a successful prosecution, preventing future fraud, or there being no case to answer, according to the council.
CAFS found tenancy, housing and right-to-buy fraud was the most common form with 182 live cases. Parking and blue badges followed with 116 live cases.
The council also carried out corporate investigations and found despite leaving, an employee continued to receive salary payments.
The blunder was identified during a review of budget data and subsequent investigations found information on the payroll system was incorrect and the ex-employee did not appear under the correct line management structure and thus was not processed as a leaver.
The council has been in touch with the ex-employee and started the recovery process. CAFS suggested managers regularly check records and "correct anomalies within their line management structures".
A second employee was caught providing private pest control work while wearing a Westminster City Council fleece jacket and allegedly boasted about deceiving the local authority. The work was poorly done and there was a payment dispute.
The referral includes pictures and the van's registration number, which identified it as an Enterprise hire van. Investigators found the individual was a council pest controller and used a council hired car to get around. They were also on probation.
A scroll through their social media found the employee's self-employed business was active and found posts corresponding to dates when they were expected to work for Westminster City.
The council wrote: "Upon joining WCC (Westminster City Council), the employee had not disclosed any business interests, and further investigation into the employee's references revealed them to be fraudulent.
"Moreover, during a search of the operative's hired van, a t-shirt from a different pest control company was discovered, and additional checks indicated that the employee had previously worked for another pest control firm from which they had been terminated."
The employee was suspended and was subject to disciplinary proceedings. They did not attend and at a later hearing was dismissed for gross misconduct.
CAFS also recovered 34 misused properties following concerns about succession, subletting and abandonment at a value of £667,000.
