A letting agent who defrauded her employer of more than £60,000 has been sentenced.
Frances Leach, who managed properties for Signature North East’s letting division, was caught after the company noticed discrepancies in its finances.
Managing director Mark Small spotted a significant fall in profits in November 2023. When he questioned Leach, she offered an excuse and failed to provide a follow-up report. This led to an investigation and ultimately the uncovering of the fraud.
Leach, 33, used her role managing properties at Signature North East to transfer client funds into her own accounts, disguising them as refunds. The scam ran from March 2023 to February 2024.
Small’s investigation revealed a hidden spreadsheet tab showing unexplained refunds totaling £62,264—far above the typical £2,000—and a further £4,010 misappropriated to pay Leach’s rent and property work.
Small personally reimbursed affected clients and hired forensic accountants at a cost of £8,000. The firm also lost £200,000 in business due to client withdrawals.
In a victim impact statement, Small described the toll on his personal and professional life, including severe stress, illness, and the decision to put the company up for sale, having invested £250,000 to try to recover it.
Leach pleaded guilty to two fraud offences. She was sentenced to two years suspended for two years and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.
In a victim impact statement, Small said he found himself “under immense strain” when his firm started experiencing unexpected financial pressures in 2023. He said his accountants couldn’t identify what was going on and he personally reviewed nearly 7,000 financial transactions, which had an impact on him and his pregnant partner.
He ended up paying £8,000 to hire forensic accountants and he said the company lost £200,000 in further business as clients withdrew.
Small said: “The consequences have devastated both my personal and professional life.
“I have suffered severe illness due to the stress. I listed Signature North East for sale because the pressure had become too much. I’ve personally invested £250,000 to try to recover the business.
“I’ve been unable to return to work due to prioritising my health. The business is currently under offer.
“I continue to grapple with the profound impact of the defendant’s betrayal.”
£60,000 tax free for 300 hrs community service that’s £200 an hour and who says crime doesn’t pay.
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I wonder what excuse she used to avoid jail. She destroyed the business and the managing director.
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Most agents don’t talk about separation of duties, but it’s the only thing that protects traditional client cash accounting systems from mistakes or misuse.
If one person enters the data and approves it, the risk already exists — not because anyone is dishonest, but because the system allows it.
Normally, separation of duties is patched by training: one member of staff checks the other.
But with fee pressure increasing and tenancy lengths rising from 22 months to 33 months — and set to rise further under the Renters Reform changes, carrying that extra staff cost is becoming harder to justify.
That’s why the sector now needs innovation that removes the exposure, instead of relying on extra people to catch what the software should never have allowed in the first place.
Separation of duties is an analogue fix for an old problem.
I’ve been helping LettsPay build the digital solution — one that removes the temptation, removes the opportunity, and drastically reduces the cost of maintaining separation.
If you’re concerned you may be exposed, contact me via LinkedIn.
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May, what are you on about!
This Wench stole £60,000 from Her employer and destroyed the business.
This wasn’t a case of fat fingers putting an extra 0 at the end of a payment.
She is a Fraudster, thief and in my opinion a *******!
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100%
May saying that a system will stop a thief being a thief is XXXt
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No one is excusing her — she’s fully responsible for what she did.
But the law is also clear that an agent has a duty to protect their clients’ money from the opportunity for theft.
Cases such as Lloyd v Grace, Smith & Co (1912) confirm that a firm is liable for the dishonest acts of its staff if weak systems allow it to happen.
And in Bristol & West v Mothew (1998), the Court of Appeal made it clear that anyone in a fiduciary role must exercise proper skill and care when handling another person’s money.
That’s why separation of duties exists.
It’s a safeguard that would have stopped this at the very first attempt.
Hard as it is to accept, there is always some responsibility on the procedure and on the oversight of that procedure.
When a system lets one person set up, amend, and approve payments without a second pair of eyes, that’s a system failure as much as it is a human one.
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This is one of the primary reasons we use PayProp
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The Uk is a joke
No disincentive to commit crime
She should have got 20 years
She has caused huge loss and upset
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It raises the question of which type of fraud represent the greatest levels of fraud in the property industry:
a) The sort of fraud of the type in the above article.
Or
b) Agency owners/Execs utilising Client account funds as interest free loan facilities, and/or selling the business on at reduced rate when they can’t meet the liability/deficit, to equally dubious buyers.
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They’re the same thing!
Only difference is one is a Director and the other an employee.
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