A letting agency worker diverted more than £60,000 company cash into her own account and secretly lived rent-free at one of the properties they managed.
Over the period of a year between February 2023 and February 2024 trusted Frances Leach transferred £62,264 from Signature North East's bank accounts into her own.
Newcastle Crown Court heard for a four month period during the fraud Leach moved herself into a property in the affluent Ponteland area of Northumberland and did not pay a penny for rent.
Prosecutor Miah Nath told the court: "The defendant had been residing at a property in Ponteland that was managed by the company.
"The defendant lived there between December 2023 until being forced to vacate in March 2024.
"She used money from the client account to pay all her rent and works carried out. The money therefore went to the landlord but without the defendant paying anything in.
"The total amount obtained in relation to that element of offending is £4,010."
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The court heard Leach had worked at the company since 2022 and she managed four other employees in property letting at the branch in Tynemouth, North Tyneside.
Miss Nath said Leach was responsible for transferring finds from protected client accounts to landlords and trades people.
In November 2023 the managing director started to notice a decline in profits and asked Leach to provide a report on client funds and became suspicious when she uncharacteristically avoided his requests.
In February 2024 he then began his own discreet investigations and found a tab on an Excel spreadsheet which turned out to be a list of bank transfers to two bank accounts belonging to Leach, under a series of fake names.
Leach was then called to a meeting but failed to attend and left the company without working any notice period.
Miss Nath said: "The total amount of transactions between March 2023 and February 2024 was £62,264."
The court heard during the painstaking investigation to expose what had happened, the managing director worked into the night and paid £8,000 to a forensic accountant.
He uncovered correspondence from clients which Leach had kept hidden through fear it may expose what she was doing and believed around £200,000 of business was lost because of her mishandling of accounts.
He invested £250,000 to try and help the company recover and said his professional and personal life have been "devastated" by Leach's betrayal.
Leach, 33, of Aisgill Drive, Chapel Park, Newcastle, admitted two charges of fraud totalling £66,275.
Susannah Proctor, defending, said Leach had been in a "toxic and abusive" relationship and been left with a large amount of debt, which she has since got under control.
Miss Proctor said Leach, who is now with another partner and is engaged to be married, is in new employment and is at university and added: "She is truly remorseful for her actions."
Judge Julie Clemitson sentenced Leach to two years suspended for two years with 300 hours unpaid work.
The judge said Leach does not pose a high risk of re-offending or a risk of harm to the public.
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