Yarrawonga real estate agent's licence cancelled
A Yarrawonga real estate agency and its director have been fined $15,000 plus costs after pleading guilty to causing trust account deficiencies and misappropriating funds.
A Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) investigation revealed Aldergate Nominees Pty Ltd — trading as Stockdale & Leggo, Yarrawonga — and its sole director, Tracey Anne Smith, 43, of Yarrawonga, misappropriated more than $18,500, relating to 21 transactions, between October 2015 and August 2016.
Smith and Aldergate Nominees’ licences were cancelled as a result of the guilty finding.
Aldergate Nominees Pty Ltd breached the Estate Agents Act 1980 by removing funds from the company's rental trust account and sales trust account, fraudulently converting them for their own use.
The matters came to the VAV attention after its received bank notification that the rental trust account was overdrawn.
CAV staff then conducted an inspection of the agency and reviewed its files.
Smith must also pay costs of more than $1,600 after the matter was finalised at the Wangaratta Magistrates' Court.