{"id":11288,"date":"2026-05-27T04:02:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T04:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11288"},"modified":"2026-05-27T04:02:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T04:02:31","slug":"former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11288","title":{"rendered":"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A former Norfolk estate agent has appeared in court facing 19 charges of fraud by false representation totalling approximately \u00a350,000, according to reports from the Eastern Daily Press.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria Steele, 51, who was sole director and shareholder of Swaffham-based eHomes between November 2011 and June 2018, is accused of withholding landlord rental payments and failing to secure tenant deposits within Government-approved protection schemes.<\/p>\n<h2>Multiple complainants<\/h2>\n<p>The case emerged after up to 40 complainants contacted Norfolk Police and national fraud reporting service Action Fraud. Among those affected were a landlord undergoing cancer treatment and a Methodist church, with individual losses ranging from \u00a3690 to more than \u00a34,100.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutor Katherine Newsom described a \u201csignificant number of complainants\u201d at Norwich Magistrates\u2019 Court and characterised the evidence as extensive and financially complex. All charges relate to the period when Steele operated eHomes, formerly known as Prestige Properties Limited.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Implications for the sector<\/h2>\n<p>The case highlights ongoing concerns about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/landlords-face-7000-fines-over-compliance-failures\/\">landlord compliance failures<\/a> and tenant deposit protection requirements. The alleged offences occurred during a period when regulatory oversight of the lettings sector was undergoing reform.<\/p>\n<p>Steele entered no pleas at the magistrates\u2019 court hearing. Magistrates ruled the case exceeded their sentencing powers and committed it to Norwich Crown Court, where a plea and trial preparation hearing is scheduled for 19 June. The court heard that the sentencing starting point if found guilty is 18 months in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Similar cases have resulted in substantial penalties for agents and landlords, with recent examples including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/landlord-and-agent-fined-91000-for-unsafe-london-hmo\/\">fines reaching \u00a391,000 for compliance breaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>eHomes closed its Swaffham premises in 2018 and was formally dissolved via Companies House in April 2019. The total amount allegedly defrauded is \u00a347,685, according to court reports. Steele was released on unconditional bail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former Norfolk estate agent has appeared in court facing 19 charges of fraud by false representation totalling approximately \u00a350,000, according to reports from the Eastern Daily Press. Victoria Steele, 51, who was sole director and shareholder of Swaffham-based eHomes between November 2011 and June 2018, is accused of withholding landlord rental payments and failing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000 - Second Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000 - Second Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A former Norfolk estate agent has appeared in court facing 19 charges of fraud by false representation totalling approximately \u00a350,000, according to reports from the Eastern Daily Press. Victoria Steele, 51, who was sole director and shareholder of Swaffham-based eHomes between November 2011 and June 2018, is accused of withholding landlord rental payments and failing [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Second Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T04:02:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?p=11288\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292\"},\"headline\":\"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T04:02:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?p=11288\"},\"wordCount\":279,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Second Home\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?p=11288\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/\",\"name\":\"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000 - Second Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T04:02:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Second Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/be5e1ed89eef5f3974748e7fc92985bcfb2b595ca712f48dda78b019b41e95f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/be5e1ed89eef5f3974748e7fc92985bcfb2b595ca712f48dda78b019b41e95f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/be5e1ed89eef5f3974748e7fc92985bcfb2b595ca712f48dda78b019b41e95f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000 - Second Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000 - Second Home","og_description":"A former Norfolk estate agent has appeared in court facing 19 charges of fraud by false representation totalling approximately \u00a350,000, according to reports from the Eastern Daily Press. Victoria Steele, 51, who was sole director and shareholder of Swaffham-based eHomes between November 2011 and June 2018, is accused of withholding landlord rental payments and failing [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/","og_site_name":"Second Home","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T04:02:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11288"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292"},"headline":"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000","datePublished":"2026-05-27T04:02:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11288"},"wordCount":279,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg","articleSection":["Second Home"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11288","url":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/","name":"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000 - Second Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-27T04:02:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/former-norfolk-agent-faces-fraud-charges-totalling-50000\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former Norfolk agent faces fraud charges totalling \u00a350,000"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/","name":"Second Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be5e1ed89eef5f3974748e7fc92985bcfb2b595ca712f48dda78b019b41e95f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be5e1ed89eef5f3974748e7fc92985bcfb2b595ca712f48dda78b019b41e95f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be5e1ed89eef5f3974748e7fc92985bcfb2b595ca712f48dda78b019b41e95f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/second-home.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0449a21f-2a5a-4380-9bb7-75e50a4c64ab_5f7d7581.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}