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An agency director from Melbourne’s western suburbs has been fined after withdrawing $30,000 from the trust account.
Gaurav Kapoor, an agent from Point Cook, has been fined $1,000 for misuse of trust account funds, while his business, Om Shri Pty Ltd, has been fined an additional $1,000.
Between March and April 2022, Kapoor made 17 withdrawals totalling $30,850. At the time, he was the officer in effective control of Om Shri, which traded in western Melbourne as Hilton Real Estate.
He has since repaid the money, and no claims have been made to the Victorian Property Fund by affected customers.
The agency has been suspended from applying for a renewal or reinstatement of an estate agent licence until December this year, while the agent himself has been prohibited from operating a sales trust account until the same date.
It has been a long process for Kapoor, who originally came before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in October 2023, followed by an administrative mention in December.
“We first became aware of the withdrawals after an external auditor discovered the deficiencies,” stated Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Nicole Rich, director of the consumer watchdog, stated that “while no consumers suffered financial loss in this instance, it was critical that consumers can have confidence when dealing with their estate agent”.
Earlier this week, another Melbourne agent was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay over $100,000 in compensation following action from Consumer Affairs Victoria.
In July, agents in NSW and Queensland were prosecuted for trust account abuse equal to $1.2 million and $1.4 million respectively.
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