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Estate agent steals £69,000 to tackle debt problems

Written on February 15, 2011 by Nathan Cameron in Debt Management News

The owner of a property lettings firm in Rugby has been caught stealing more than £69,000 from his clients to pay off his debt problems.
Stephen Greenwood, who lives in Coventry, has been jailed for twelve months for collecting rent on properties his lettings agency managed but not passing the cash on to the owners of the properties. He was also found to have sent statements to the landlords informing them that the money had been paid to them.
In Leamington Crown Court, Mr Greenwood admitted four counts of fraud totalling £19,000 in ill-gotten gains. He also asked for a further 59 fraud charges to be considered, these amounting to £50,000 in stolen rent money. He has also been banned from being the director of a company for up to four years.
Mr Greenwood’s legal representatives explained that he had launched his lettings firm, Greenwood Homes, in 1985 whilst also waiting for a substantial return on a property investment in Spain. It was claimed that he stole the money in order to tackle his debt problems and keep himself in business.
However, his attempts were unsuccessful and the business closed in October 2009, which was when the landlords of properties managed by Greenwood Homes started to notice their rent payments were missing.