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Agencies & People

‘Heartless’ estate agent jailed after stealing £160,000 from pensioner

Rye agent Elizabeth Smith pleaded guilty to fraud earlier this year but has now been sentenced to four years in jail for her crimes.

Nigel Lewis

estate agent jailed

A 52-year-old south coast estate agent has been jailed after being found guilty of conning a pensioner out of £160,000.

Elizabeth Smith, who ran now-defunct Rye-based company Waves Estates, pleaded guilty to the fraud in August at Lewes County Court hearing and has now been sentenced to five years and 14 days in prison. Her agency appears to have been short-lived and garnered very poor ratings on GetAgent.

In May 2018 Smith was asked by 80-year-old Joan Cannon to help find her a property in the St Leonards area and took the cash to help complete the purchase of a suitable property.

But the original court hearing in August was told that Smith instead used the money to fund the trappings of a luxury lifestyle including the purchase of a £13,950 Mercedes sports car and a holiday in Dubai.

At the hearing, in mitigation, Smith claimed to be suffering from stomach cancer, a claim that it was found to be untrue, the sentencing hearing heard. She was accused of trying to use the claim to ‘gain sympathy from the court’.

Estate agent

But police described her estate agent fraud as a ‘heartless fraud on an elderly and vulnerable person’.

Sadly, Cannon died between the original hearing and Smith’s sentencing after the court’s decision was delayed by Covid court delays.

In a statement prepared before her death, she said: “I had no reason to doubt what Smith was asking me to do.

“However, when I found out that I had actually been defrauded by Smith, my entire world came crashing down – we are now facing being homeless.”

As he sentenced Smith, Judge Martin Huseyin said Smith’s actions were “utterly despicable”.

Read more about agents jailed for fraud.

 

November 15, 2021

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