A VICTIM of a fraudulent businessman who stole nearly £74,000 from tenants has said an order making him pay just £1 feels like a ‘slap in the face.’

Neil Bradbury, 43, of Eagle Close, Caldicot, was jailed in November after stealing payments and deposits from tenants in the Monmouthshire area between October 2011 and early 2015.

The former director of Monmouthshire property management and lettings firm Celtic Lettings, Bradbury pleaded guilty to 49 counts of fraud, conning tenants out of nearly £74,000 over the four year period.

He has since repaid some of the money, but accepts that he still owes a total of £63,462.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newport Crown Court yesterday, recorder Lucy Crowther ordered Bradbury to pay back a nominal fee of £1 over the next three months.

The court heard there was no money available in his bank account to pay the debt.

Chris Scroggs, 54, from Chepstow, had around £1,200 stolen from Bradbury while setting up a deposit scheme for his son.

He said the outcome was a ‘disappointment.’

“It feels like a bit of a slap in the face for the victims,” said Mr Scroggs, who works as a solicitor.

“The victims are never going to see a penny of the money and there is no explanation as to where it has gone.”

The experience has made him more cautious, he added.

At his sentencing, a court heard Bradbury’s company, which has offices in Magor and Chepstow, was investigated by trading standards and Gwent Police, who found 34 properties were involved in the fraud.

Meirian Davies, prosecuting, said Bradbury failed to register tenant deposits under the “tenant deposit scheme” - a legal requirement under the Housing Act (2004).

Bradbury claimed this was due to a “clerical error” but handed himself in at Chepstow Police Station in May 2015, where he was arrested and interviewed.

The court heard Bradbury was in a “significant amount” of personal debt, had no money in his own bank account, and was under “financial pressure to keep the business afloat.”