A rogue lettings agency employee who embezzled more than £50,000 from the company he worked for last year has been handed a suspended sentence.

Paul Cheriton, who worked for Hadlands in Amersham, took advantage of his position at the company to fraudulently obtain tens of thousands of pounds while working from home during lockdown. This was done by diverting payments intended for landlord clients into accounts that he set up and managed.

The agency, which has an office in Chesham Road, pursued a private prosecution against Cheriton, who worked in the accounts and finance department to avoid any potential delays in police investigations.

Cheriton, who is from Kilwinning in Scotland, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation between 1 August 2019, and 31 December 2020.

He was ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Simon Hadland, the agency’s manging director, commented: “Many businesses have struggled during the pandemic and this sort of fraudulent activity puts people’s livelihoods at risk.

“We took the unusual step of prosecuting this case privately to ensure that Mr Cheriton couldn’t do this again to someone else.”

“We have ensured that our clients weren’t impacted by this fraud and all losses have been covered,” he added. “I want to thank the team at JMW Solicitors for their continued support in bringing Mr Cheriton to justice.”

Reflecting on the case, Daniel Martin, partner at JMW Solicitors, said: “The defendant exploited working from home in order to get away with it for longer than would otherwise be the case.

“As the business tried to adapt to WFH practices during the pandemic they had no choice but to place a lot of trust in their workforce.

“He diverted payments that were intended for landlord clients into accounts that he had set up with similar names in order to avoid detection.

“The business had to cover the losses themselves to ensure that no clients were impacted as a result.”

Martin also explained why the estate agency pursued a private rather than public prosecution

He added: “The company was concerned about the widely reported delays in police investigations and the poor statistics of fraud prosecutions.

“They wanted to bring the case as quickly as possible to stop him offending further, potentially targeting other small businesses.”