Gold Coast property agent jailed
A Gold Coast property agent has been sentenced to nine months jail in the Southport Magistrates Court [6 November] for breaches relating to the management of trust accounts.
Steven Chen pleaded guilty to five charges of improperly paying out trust account money and one charge of carrying out the business of a real estate agent without the appropriate licence.
A sentence of nine months imprisonment was imposed for the charges of improperly paying out trust account money. A sentence of one month imprisonment was imposed for the charge of carrying out the business of a real estate agent without the appropriate licence. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Mr Chen will serve three months before being considered for conditional release. Mr Chen was also permanently disqualified from holding a property agent’s licence.
The court heard, in charges brought by the Office of Fair Trading, that between July 2011 and November 2011, unauthorised withdrawals and transfers were made from Mr Chen’s trust accounts, resulting in detriment to consumers of $324,480. Mr Chen failed to account for the monies or pay them to those entitled to them.
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