A woman has been jailed after stealing over £108,000 while working at an estate and letting agent.
This was while being subject to a suspended sentence imposed after she stole from a previous employer.
During the times that she was doing unpaid work ordered as part of that sentence, she claimed sick leave from her new employer, who had employed her for some years before her previous offence came to light and resulted in a conviction.
Rachel Cefai, 37, has now been jailed for two and a half years by Warwick Crown Court.
She pleaded guilty to theft, two charges of fraud, and being in breach of the suspended sentence.
Cefai had begun working for Dunsmore Estates in Rugby in 2010.
She was promoted and given responsibilities. However, six years later, misuse of the company credit card came to light, followed by the discovery that tenants’ payments had been diverted into her own account.
Cefai had also taken keys to a pub bought by her boss, let herself in and stolen £900 worth of furniture.
Prosecuting, Marion Smullen said Cefai obtained £105,582 by diverting it into her account, plus £2,763 by using the company credit card.
Miss Smullen said Cefai had falsified various documents so that it not look as though tenants had owed money. She had also made it look at as though transactions on the credit card had been for company purchases.
Cefai, the court heard, was given an eight-month suspended sentence in 2015, together with an order to do unpaid work, for stealing from a former employer – an offence which occurred between September 2009 and September 2010 but which did not come to light for some time.
Defending, Delroy Henry said Cefai had made an early guilty plea, and asked for mercy. Cefai had repaid the money, selling her home to do so. She had also become a mother.
However, he said: “The difficulty with this case is that there were live proceedings at the time this dishonesty took place.”
She had completed her unpaid work in record time, Mr Henry added.
However, Judge Peter Cooke said: “That’s easy if you’re being fraudulently paid while you’re doing the work.”
Rejecting Mr Henry’s plea for a suspended sentence, the judge told Cefai: “You are a 37-year-old woman whose dishonesty seems to know no bounds.”
Not foolproof but agents must surely take more care when employing staff. Proper referencing and CRB/DBS checks for example.
GDPR also places greater importance on the protection of people’s data – this includes access to bank account details etc. and donagents need to review who can access what in their operations.
Many agents are simply too trusting, naive or desperate when recruiting. Just because someone has a pulse doesn’t make them the right choice!
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“She had completed her unpaid work in record time, Mr Henry added.”
Not really – her employer paid her while she was doing that.
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