THE boss of a lettings agency has been jailed for 28 months for stealing nearly £74,000 from clients.

Neil Bradbury, who ran Celtic Lettings in Chepstow, admitted 52 counts of fraud when he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court last week.

At the end of 2014 a number of landlords who had used Celtic Lettings approached Gwent Police and Trading Standards with complaints, mostly about deposits which had not been placed into a statutory bond scheme.

Bradbury was later charged with 52 counts of fraud by abuse of position and an investigation established he had stolen £31,941 in deposits and £32,288 in rent totalling £64,229.

Another two offences, which were taken into account by the court, took the total to nearly £74,000.

Bradbury, who comes from Caldicot, was jailed despite having repaid some £12,000.

Complaints from landlords about Celtic Lettings were initially made to Monmouthshire Trading Standards at the end of 2014.

They were mainly about deposits given to Bradbury but which were not placed into a tenant bond scheme as required by law.

Some landlords received paperwork saying deposits had been made while others received no documentation.

Checks with various bond schemes showed no deposits for the properties had been registered.

As well as keeping that money, as he tried to keep the business afloat, it was also found he had failed to pass on all or part of rent payments to landlords.

A total of 34 addresses were identified as being linked to fraudulent deals with 72 landlords and tenants having fallen victim.

Trading Standards officers visited Bradbury in December 2014 with a ‘handful’ of complaints but he claimed there had been clerical errors and promised to put them right.

Gwent Police say that by the end of January 2015 the number of complaints had “increased dramatically” with victims saying they had made various unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with the 43-year-old and usually found the office in Moor Street, Chepstow shut.

A fraud investigation was started by police and Bradbury was interviewed four times over the following months and a warrant was executed at a number of addresses to which he had links.

Bradbury will be eligible to released on licence in January 2018. A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is scheduled to assess how the money can be recovered.