A LETTINGS manager who defrauded a six-figure sum from a Chester estate agents, which led to them having to make redundancies, has been jailed.

Wendy Dare, 57, had previously pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to three counts of fraud by abuse of position from when she worked at Humphreys of Chester over several years.

The fraud was detected when Humphreys was acquired by Northwood and an audit of the accounts in June 2021 uncovered several outgoings which could not be explained.

Appearing at Chester Crown Court on Monday, March 20, Dare – of Southport Road, Scarisbrick, Southport – was jailed for 28 months.

Prosecuting, Joanne Moore said Dare had been employed at Humphreys from 2015 and the fraud began in 2016.

The lettings manager had full access to the company accounts and, the court heard, she abused that position as having sole access to one account, by making many fraudulent payments from that account over several years to family bank accounts.

The court heard in some cases, the payments would be processed as rent payments for her daughters. The landlords would be paid, in effect, by using the estate agency's money.

Other payments would be listed as rent refunds.

Dare left the company in late 2020. The investigation found that while Dare had repaid over £32,680 to the company's bank account, there was still over £106,000 outstanding.

The court heard Dare's husband Fred Dare had been in a serious car accident and had received a large sum of money as a result, and the timing of him receiving that sum of money coincided with Dare repaying the estate agents.

A victim statement on behalf of Humphreys said the financial harm caused to the company had led to redundancies and a drop in staff bonuses made.

The company said if it had not changed its accounting system then the offending could well have continued.

Dare had no previous convictions.

Defending, Peter Barnett said Dare was "under no illusions" and had made full admissions in her interview.

There had initially been some dispute over the sum the prosecution had calculated, but she had since accepted that figure was correct.

The origin of the offending came after Dare's son had a debt caused by a heroin addiction, the court heard, and both Dare and her husband paid that debt off, but lost their home and moved to rented accommodation.

Dare was "taking drips and drabs" from the company and "was not aware" of the effect on the company.

She had planned to leave Humphreys in late 2020 as the plan was to move out of the area.

It had been in May 2018 when her husband had been in a serious car accident and was hospitalised for a long time, during which he was also diagnosed with cancer.

Mr Barnett told the court the cancer returned last year and Dare's husband passed away in February 2023, one day before she met probation for her pre-sentence report.

He added the first time any of the family were aware of the offending was when Dare herself was interviewed by police.

Judge Simon Berkson told Dare she had put her family at risk of being prosecuted for money laundering.

He added Dare had committed "significant and long-lasting fraud" on her employers, totalling almost £140,000.

"As a direct result, people lost out," he added, as the company had to make redundancies.

The judge said while Dare had suffered in her family life, the case was one where "only immediate imprisonment is appropriate".

Dare was jailed for 28 months and a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will take place at a future date.