Estate agent stole £140,000 from her boss to pay off son’s drug debts
An estate agent stole £140,000 over a four-and-a-half-year period to pay off her son’s drug debts, a court heard.
Wendy Dare siphoned off company money after she and her late husband Fred Dare were forced into rented accommodation for paying off their son’s debts.
The 57-year-old property manager transferred the cash into various personal accounts including those in the names of her late husband and one of her daughters.
She arranged for her company to make 65 rental payments which totalled £33,000 for homes leased by the couple’s daughters.
She eventually paid back £32,000 but the losses she caused led to wage cuts and redundancies at Humphreys Estate Agents in Chester where she worked.
Her family knew nothing about the fraud until it was uncovered during an audit when the agency was taken over by another company in June 2021.
Mr Dare suffered with cancer and had been left disabled after a road accident.
He had been questioned over possible money laundering allegations but no action was taken against him and he died on March 1.
Prosecutor Joanne Moore told Chester Crown Court how Dare had been employed by the firm from May 2015 until the end of December 2020 during which time she had sole access to the accounts.
The court heard ‘mismatched payments’ from tenants to landlords were discovered which totalled £23,473.
Miss Moore said: ‘There were 37 payments between September 2017 and September 2019 and made to an account registered to Fred Dare, which totalled £47,308.29.
‘Other payments marked down as “rent refunds” were never received by tenants. Rather the money went to the accounts of Fred Dare and the daughter between 2016 and 2019, which amounted to £7,147.50.’
Dare’s daughters rented properties through Humphreys and although the firm paid the landlords, no money had been received to cover payments.
She transferred £32,681 to Humphreys Estate Agents to cover up deficits in the account before she left in 2020 but the total loss was £106,054.
Miss Moore said: ‘The period of account payments made was between February 2016, and November 2020.
‘This offending can only go as far back as 2016 due to the fact that the company moved bank accounts at that point in time.’
In mitigation Dare’s lawyer Peter Barnett said the thefts started when her son asked for help.
‘The money was taken in dribs and drabs and she was not aware of the effect on the company. She left due to plans to move out of the area and relocate.’
‘She is under no illusion about the seriousness of this matter.’
Judge Simon Berkson said: ‘You had access to computer systems and money effectively within that company which you used to your own ends and to put away for your own family.
‘You moved money to various accounts in the name of people related to you, putting them at risk of being in the criminal spotlight. People lost money and the company had to make redundancies because of the losses at your hands.
‘Only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate due to the amount of money and abuse of the responsibility that you had.’
Dare, from Scarisbrick near Southport, Lancashire, was jailed for 28 months after she admitted fraud by abuse of position and will now face a proceeds of crime hearing.
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