A man who stole almost £2m from his estate agency employers has been sentenced to five years in jail – almost the same period as his crime went on until it was discovered.

Book-keeper Julian Kremer, 49, has left lives in tatters, inflicting disaster on the firm which had known him a long time and trusted him.

He stole at the rate of £250,000 a year as he fiddled the accounts at Richard Worth estate agents in Wokingham, Berkshire. In total he stole £1,981,916 and used the money to fund a gambling habit and a lifestyle involving lavish hotel stays.

In a lengthy investigation, police found he had transferred money from five company accounts to his own.

As a result of his actions, five employees lost their jobs.

They were made redundant as the company reeled from a financial disaster from which it might never recover, the court heard. The company is still trading but the court heard that its boss has been put under huge stress and pressure in his efforts to save the business.

Recorder Martin Heslop, the judge at Reading Crown Court on Friday, described Kremer’s offence as “almost as bad as it can get”.

Kremer’s crimes came to light at the end of January 2013 after two employees had not been paid their salaries. Confronted by the boss of the company, managing director Stephen Jones, Kremer admitted he had taken the huge sum over a period of four and a half years.

He had used most of the money to fund an internet gambling habit, but also lived the high life and bought a plot of land in Scotland so he could have a ‘laird’ title.

Kremer had spent more than £630,000 on gambling. Company director Steven Jones, who runs the company under the names Richard Worth Ltd, Richard Worth Residential Ltd and Richard Worth Holdings Ltd, told the court he had known Kremer for almost 20 years.

Prosecuting, Jane Davies said Kremer was clever and calculating. She said: “Kremer stole around £250,000 a year and told Mr Jones that cashflow was not improving due to debts.

“After the discovery, Mr Jones did everything he could to minimise the financial ruin for the company.

“He negotiated with a competitor to buy his lettings business which allowed the recovery of most of the client money.

“Mr Jones had to deal with it with secrecy to maintain the reputation of the business.”

She said he had negotiated with the Inland Revenue but had to make five employees redundant.

Miss Davies continued: “He has been put under a huge amount of stress. He has taken on £1m in debt personally and put his own property on the line to deal with the bedrock of his retirement planning.

“He doubts he will ever recover from financial disaster.

Defending, Llewellyn Sellick said Mr Jones had sold the lettings arm of the business but the sales part of it was still trading.

He told the court that Kremer had been of previous good character.

He said: “He made an immediate confession to his employers and he repeated this when he was arrested.

“He now has nothing. He was heavily addicted to gambling and had to sell his £400,000 house.

“By the 1990s he had lost three of his grandparents and his mother’s brother. His brother Simon was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2004 aged 41.”

Jailing him for five years, Mr Recorder Heslop said:”This was a professional, sophisticated and at times extremely clever and deliberate theft involving fraud, forgery and misrepresentation to those for whom you worked, and it is a theft on a very significant scale carried out over a substantial period of time.

“This is as bad a case as one could imagine. It is quite clear the money went on gambling.

“There is also evidence of high living. You were using this money to enjoy a significantly high level of living.”

The judge said that the public should be aware of the impact of Kremer’s theft on those at the estate agents – Steven Jones, company secretary James Morris, accountant Louise Durcan, and joint owner Paul Hodgetts.

Kremer wiped his eyes while family members sitting in the public gallery sobbed.

Det Con James Deans, from Thames Valley Police Money Laundering Team, who conducted the investigation, said after the case: “Kremer used his position of trust and friendship to conceal the offending from colleagues and friends of many years.

“Over and above the loss of funds, the business also suffered a loss of jobs and had to sell off part of their business to a competitor.

“I am pleased that he has been given a significant prison sentence and I hope that it will be of some comfort to the victims of his crime.”

Det Insp Gavin Tyrrell, head of the Thames Valley Police Economic Crime Unit, added: “It has taken two years to bring this investigation to a conclusion and I thank the investigator and other professionals involved.

“Fraud is never a victimless crime. It can leave lives, relationships and livelihoods in tatters.”

Below: Julian Kremer