Woman who worked for estate agent stole £66k in refund fraud

A TRUSTED estate agent worker who stole more than £66,000 from her employer in a shocking betrayal of trust has avoided prison.

- ROB KENNEDY

Frances Leach worked for Signature North East's letting division, based in Tynemouth, and her role involved managing properties.

In November 2023, the managing director of the company, Mark Small, noticed a large decline in profits. He asked Leach about it and she came up with an excuse and he asked her to compile a report.

When she failed to do so, which was uncharacteristic as she was usually efficient, he became suspicious and discreetly launched his own investigation. That revealed a hidden tab on a spreadsheet with unexplained refunds of more than £57,000 over a six-month period. The amount would typically have been around £2,000.

Mr Small then found the hidden transactions involved funds being transferred from client accounts to accounts belonging to Leach. They were disguised as refunds with fake names used and the total amount, between March 2023 and February 2024, was £62,264.