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The former Sydney agent was found to have misappropriated $605,000 from a real estate company’s trust account between 1 January 2014 and 5 September 2014.
Dirk Hertford, who had his licence cancelled in 2015, was initially convicted in the Downing Centre Local Court on 4 April 2024 on one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception under section 192E of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). At that time, he was sentenced to 18 months’ jail, with a non-parole period of nine months. He served two months in jail.
After serving two months at a correctional facility, Hertford has been successful in an appeal to have his sentence adjusted to a 16-month intensive correction order, which includes 10 months of home detention with an ankle bracelet and 100 hours of community service.
He has also been ordered to pay $100,000 in compensation as well as legal costs.
Victims of Hertford, who was operating an agency in the eastern Sydney suburb of Coogee when the trust account abuse took place, have already been compensated by the Property and Stock Compensation Fund.
According to the NSW’s licence records, Hertford has been disqualified from acting as a real estate agent or being involved in the direction, management or conduct of of a real estate business under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002, for a period of 10 years. That ban is set to expire on 9 August 2025.
In announcing the conviction against Hertford, Commissioner for Fair Trading Natasha Mann said that the case should show “severe penalties apply for agents who take money from company trust accounts when not legally entitled to do so and abuse the trust clients have placed in them”.
She added that “NSW Fair Trading takes a proactive approach to protecting consumer rights and holding real estate agents to account”.
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