Landlord who secretly spied on tenants sentenced to 18 months behind bars

A Sydney landlord has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars after pleading guilty to charges relating to secretly filming his tenants without consent to obtain sexual arousal.

Masaaki Imaeda, 66, confessed to setting up an elaborate camera network to spy on his unsuspecting tenants for his own sexual pleasure.

A secret sex den where he would monitor the footage was hidden in a no-frills shed in the backyard of the property, the location of which cannot be revealed for legal reasons.

It’s not the first time Imaeda has come under fire for his rental practises - having come under heavy criticism after fire tore through an illegal "shanty town" in which he was charging occupants up to $160 a week.

A fire tore through the inner Sydney site two years ago and it was subsequently sold for $3.8 million.

Imaeda was today sentenced to 18 months in jail, with a non-parole period of 10 months at Campbelltown Local Court.

In handing down the sentence, Magistrate David Degnan told the court that Imaeda had committed a gross breach of his responsibilities as a landlord.

Imaeda immediately requested bail, with his wife willing to put up a $10,000 surety. But bail was denied.

He will be back in court next year to appeal the sentence.