Wendy Dare, 57, siphoned off around £138,000 of her employer’s funds into nine separate bank accounts belonging to Dare and members of her family.
Dare worked for the estate agent ‒ which has not been named ‒ as a lettings manager between 2015 and 2020. Because of her position, she had access to the company’s accounts, providing her with the opportunity to defraud her bosses.
The crimes only came to light in June 2021 when a £23,000 payment, which was supposed to have gone to a landlord, could not be accounted for.
An investigation by Chester CID discovered four accounts in Dare’s name, as well as five in the name of her husband had been set up, with significant amounts paid into them. A further 37 transactions, which totalled more than £47,000 were paid into fake landlord accounts, which had been set up by Dare.
She admitted to three counts of fraud by abuse of power.
While Dare has repaid more than £32,000, she has been ordered to repay almost £123,000 to her former employers within three months or face an increased sentence.
Jane Carruthers, financial investigator at Cheshire Constabulary’s economic crime unit, said: “Wendy Dare’s confiscation order sends a strong message that Cheshire Police takes the recovery of the proceeds of crime and loss to victims very seriously. It highlights the importance of asset recovery considerations running throughout an investigation, to maximise the opportunities to recover significant sums derived from criminality in an effort to compensate victims of crime.”
