Estate agent from hell

Jun 7 2005 By Catherine Hendrick, Evening Mail

Walter Mitty character

THE loyal workers Antoniou left penniless and jobless just weeks before Christmas described the crook as a Walter Mitty character who lived in a fantasy world.

After he was arrested on December 15 the Bearwood and Kings Heath branches of Manor Estate Agents were shut down.

The staff hadn't been paid for two months and were owed around £15,000 in wages.

Luckily, Birmingham tycoon Andy Maxwell spotted their plight in the Evening Mail and offered them new jobs with his company, Amber Estate Agents.

Rebecca Conn was the branch administrator at Manor Estate Agents' office in Kings Heath.

The 22-year-old, who was owed £2,500 by Antoniou, told the Mail: "You just didn't know what to believe with him. He once told us that his mum was dead and then he got a Christmas card from her!

"He also told us that his wife and son had been killed in a car accident in Cyprus. But we weren't convinced the accident had ever happened. It just all seemed very strange. He told one of us his son was called Chris and another that his name was Stephen."

Donna Howlett, who oversaw Manor Estate Agents' Kings Heath and Bearwood branches as senior lettings manager, said: "I think it got to the stage where even he believed what he was telling people"