The law has finally caught up with a letting agent who stole £140,000 from clients.
The 43 victims included some of his friends.
On Friday, Robert Stagg, 58, was jailed for two years, over three-and-a-half years after being arrested.
His firm Robert L. Stagg had branches in Wellington and Taunton, Somerset. It had boasted: “The leading independent residential lettings and property management agency in Somerset, Robert Stagg is currently entrusted by buy-to-let owners and property companies with a portfolio of over 600 highly desirable properties, houses and flats for rent, in Somerset.”
In the long-running case, Stagg, formerly of West Buckland, Somerset, but now of London, was first suspected by his accountant, Christine Williams, of receiving deposits and rents on behalf of his landlords but failing to hand them over.
She spotted discrepancies and saw him transfer money above his salary into his personal account. He told her that the transactions could be treated as a loan from the company. She resigned in September 2006 because of her concerns.
But Stagg was not arrested until November 2007. A string of court appearances followed, featuring a wrangle over the amounts stolen.
Appearing before magistrates in Taunton in July 2009, where he was charged with two counts of theft totalling £230,000, the court heard that the thefts, committed between March 2003 and November 2007, stemmed from 87 complaints.
In December 2009 he pleaded guilty at Crown Court, but disputed the sums involved. Sentencing was adjourned in June last year while Stagg continued to dispute the amounts. The judge said it was unsatisfactory that the case had been dragging on.
Last December, he was spared jail on the condition that he started to repay his victims. Stagg was then described as working as an electrician.
He was allowed bail after telling a court that, together with his wife Carol, he should be able to hand over up to £35,000 within the next six months.
Stagg, who had blamed the ‘mess’ on staff and developers he worked with, had also been a director of a property maintenance firm. After he became insolvent, the bank froze his account and he was bankrupted, and HMRC obtained a winding-up order in November 2007.
In court, he was described as having been “responsible and respectable for more than a decade”. As a result of his thefts, he had lost his livelihood and reputation.
Last Friday, Taunton Crown Court heard that Stagg had failed to keep December’s promise to repay part of the money. He had only £4,500 available.
Noel Sweeney, defending, said Stagg had gone bankrupt and may have been too ambitious and over-optimistic about what he could achieve.
Prosecutor David Bartlett said: “A man who, six months ago, told his counsel he should be in a position to pay up to £35,000 by today and is only providing £4,500 is not going to be in a position to pay £140,000 in a reasonable period of time.”
Judge Graham Hume Jones said he had been told in December there was a reasonable prospect of Stagg earning £31,000 in six months, but that had not been forthcoming.
He added: “I was told you could earn money not just as an agent but as an electrician and that your wife could produce money in order to make reparation. There’s been no sign of that whatsoever.”
Passing sentence, the judge suggested that despite having been found guilty of theft, Stagg may have worked recently as a letting agent. The judge said: “It may be that what you were offering to the court was unrealistic, but nothing has been shown to the court. That indicates to me that you have found no other work or made any effort, apart from the letting agent, to produce money.”
Compensation proceedings, forecast to take half a day, were adjourned to a later date.
Meanwhile, some of his furious ex-clients have made their feelings plain online. One greeted the jail sentence with ‘Justice at last!’ while another called Stagg a ‘thieving scumbag’.
And one warned: “No doubt, the hugely over-confident Robert Stagg will resume his activities on release from prison.”
Certainly, as the law stands, there is nothing to stop him returning to the lettings industry again.
Comments
Well I am an agent. I should be very interested to see any evidence that I lie, cheat and steal for a living, or indeed that we are very well paid.
We run a very tight ship from a legal and accounting perspective and it is in fact the Landlords that resent the levels of paperwork and authorisation we demand. In many cases they simply refuse to return signed offer letters or reference approvals. Of course should things go wrong, they are the first to rely on these ommissions as being our fault and a clear path to compensation demands.
It never fails to disappoint when seeing people such as HPC Blogger spouting nonsense on public forums that does nothing but perpetuate the Estate Agent stereotype.
"I guess you all your statements go with 99.9% assurance" Not as good as yours - which carry a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT guarantee to be as poorly constructed and spelt as any written by a third year primary school pupil with ADHD...
Remember, I said "Trust me - you don't need to attempt to look any dumber than the dizzy heights you have already reached..."
Clearly, you also can't take good advice when it is freely offered!
Here's some more - which I implore you to follow:
LEAVE HPC ARGUMENTS IN THE CAPABLE (AND ARTICULATE...) HANDS OF RANTNRAVE AND SIBLEY'S...!
You do your 'movement' NO FAVOURS AT ALL!!
I guess you all your statements go with 99.9% assurance
HPC Blogger: "What a fine example of someone who talks with their fist raher than words" Nope - but I'm certainly not a numpty who jumps into the brown sticky with both feet with every poorly constructed sentence I type...
Trust me - if you can't fight me with words you REALLY don't want to square up to me in the flesh!
"You are obviously a sciencetist as well bcos your statement... means that you have done a very thorough research to make such a strong statement." Well! Firstly, I am not sure what a sciencetist is... perhaps you may want to enlighten (on second thoughts don't bother - I can't be chewed to rifle through the inaccuracies...) - BUT, 'O Educated One', you need to know that there are MANY professions that carry out extensive research which have nothing to do whatsoever with the sciences. Google 'research' for a more thorough explanation. While you are on - Google 'numbskull' and at least you will know what genus of the human race you are a "fine example" of.
Glad to be a part of your continuing education - Lord knows you need all the help you can get...
@PeeBee
What a fine example of someone who talks with their fist raher than words. 'You are a prat who wouldn't recognise a.tennis racquet until it smashed you in the face'.
You are obviously a sciencetist as well bcos your statement ''You also realise that 99.9% of Estate Agents are completely honest, hardworking, and diligent members of society, don't you?' means that you have done a very thorough research to make such a strong statement.
You must be one of those salemen that gives a 'lifetime warranty' for whatever you are selling without having any intention of honouring it.
99.9% wow! I don't think you can claim that of any profession except estate agemts and lawyers which peebee you admit to not being.
HPC Blogger (nice to see you got your name right this time...): "Trust me I am a lot educated and qualified than a estate agent..."
You DO realise that the above sentence alone would earn a primary school pupil a "Must do better..." from teacher, don't you?
You also realise that 99.9% of Estate Agents are completely honest, hardworking, and diligent members of society, don't you?
No, of course you dont. You are a prat who wouldn't recognise a.tennis racquet until it smashed you in the face.
Oh - and before you leap into "Prat Mode" once again - I AM NOT AN ESTATE AGENT - so don't start mothing off about how I am clearly the vilest of the vile!
Trust me - you don't need to attempt to look any dumber than the dizzy heights you have already reached...
With all due respect, if you can't tell that 'teh' means'the' then there is nothing much to say. I type fast and i am not bothered whether i got the correct spelling. Trust me I am a lot educated and qualified than a estate agent but no doubt poorer then them as I don't cheat and steal for a living. If your only line of defence is my spelling mistake and not denying that you guys (and gals) cheat and steal (and lie) for a living then I rest my case.
If you guys were honest in the first place then we wouldn't have been in this predicament. QED
Hey,
@HPC Blogger – nice post, good work mate im glad to see an articulate, educated and wise chap like your self is posting here.
Some people come on here and sound like right thickies spouting a load of half arsed ill informed ‘ my mate down the pub said’ cobblers, some of them cant even spell and make the rest of us think they are really daft.
…………..not you though son, eh, not you
Jonnie
Correction: Actually he can't get back into Estate Agency. Lettings is a different matter. There are alot more private landlords than managing agents who will never use SAFE as they don't belong to any of the boys clubs, who some will know have memebers who are shady, probably some dishonest and now displaying the SAFE logo?
"HPC bloger": Tthe quicker you learn to spell and construct sentences, the quicker people will take you seriously - and not simply consider you an illiterate, ignorant oaf with an extremely blunt axe to grind...
Can't even get you own pseudonym right! Would you like me to explain "pseudonym" for you?
Estate agents steal from their clients all the time. It is only that this dunb arse got caught. With this downturn they finally got waht they deserve. Got an agent in north London who demanded my friend pay him £5000 in order to secure a house sale Their vendor was obviously in teh dark but the solicitor was in it. Just shows you, no difference between estate agenst and lawyers. Same breed of people.
@stonehenge
"SAFE still leaves the consumer with no redress scheme in place other than the courts which is why ARLA, NAEA & RICS score over it. "
Errrr - hello.
Only members of ARLA, NAEA, RICS, NALS and Law Society CAN join SAFE and display a logo to show they have CMP. That is the point - one message - one logo
Dont confuse a redress scheme with CMP - they are entirely different. Redress schemes do NOT protect clients money.
If this agent were members of SAFE, landlords money would be returned. Claiming to be with TPOS or anyone outside these organisations is of no use once the money has gone. The issue is that the public dont know hence one kitemark as said before.
stonehenge
You miss the entire point of SAFE. Its a universal kitemark to show that an agent HAS protection and which the regulators have failed to promote and educate the public about.
As someone pointed out - the RICS dont even mention lettings! Many members of the public believe TPOS provides protection - it does not.
Its not a replacement nor competing regulator. Its about consumer awareness which is why we have joined.
@stonehenge.
Are you sure you know how SAFE operates?
SAFE still leaves the consumer with no redress scheme in place other than the courts which is why ARLA, NAEA & RICS score over it.
The above sorry mess might have been dealt with much sooner had Mr Stagg been a member of any of these three. At least consumers would probably have had some money returned to them.
@robbie
I agree that conviction for serious fraud/theft should preclude a person from practising as a director or principal.
However, how exactly would you 'control/monitor'' anyone who was 'registered/controlled and still went ahead and stole? They would be prosecuted etc but they would have still stolen.
The only real control would be the threat of immediate and draconian jail sentencing, which government would enact that legislation in these 'soft' times?
How much longer can the gov ignore the need to control agents who handle client money? As this Article says, there is nothing to stop Stagg getting back into letting industry. At the vey least, the public deserve an agent who is honest. Doesn't have to have passed exams or belong to a trade body but no one should be allowed to be an agent if they have a criminal record for theft or fraud.
What a truly shocking case. A good reason for the SAFE campaign.