Buckinghamshire agent jailed for theft
Former Frost Partnership agent John Christopher Jeffery has been sentenced to prison for eight months.
Jeffery, a former manager at Frost's Flackwell Heath branch in Buckinghamshire for nearly 10 years, was sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of theft by employee at Aylesbury Crown Court on February 16.
During the hearing it emerged that Jeffery had stolen more than £40,000 in commission from the agency over several years, which came to light after he left the company to set up JC Jeffery & Co estate agents in Cookham, Berkshire last year.
John Frost, managing director of the Frost Partnership, says: "We are extremely disappointed that such a significant and calculated theft took place by a long-standing senior member of our staff, with whom we placed a great deal of trust. The whole situation is regrettable."
Jeffery's estate agency, where he was partner, has now rebranded as Camlet Properties.
A spokesperson for Camlet Properties says: "He is no longer part of it [the agency]. The partners would like to apologise for any upset that this may have caused our clients and assure them that this was a matter between John Jeffery and his previous employers and that at no point were any of our clients exposed to any misconduct."