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An investigation by Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading uncovered trust account failures dating back several years.
Phuc Ngoc Nguyen who operated the company Christopher Midas Pty Ltd, which traded as Julie’s Realty in Sunnybank Hills, in Brisbane’s south, faced the Holland Park Magistrates Court over allegations of trust account abuse.
The Office of Fair Trading found that between August 2022 and July 2023, Nguyen received 31 cash payments totalling over $23,280 for real estate property transactions and failed to bank them into the trust account.
She also falsified 11 trust account receipts to show she had paid rent totalling $17,600 for the agency’s commercial premises when in fact no rent was paid.
Furthermore, it was then discovered that Nguyen failed to remit three statutory bonds on behalf of tenants to the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) within the legislative time frame.
When facing the court, Nguyen pleaded guilty to 35 charges relating to failing to bank cash into the trust account, wrongfully converting amounts in trust, and failing to pay bonds to the RTA.
According to Fair Trading, all the money has since been returned and correctly disbursed from trust.
As a penalty for the failures, Nguyen was ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, while she and her company both had their real estate licences cancelled and have been disqualified from the industry for 10 years.
The state’s Commissioner for Fair Trading, Victoria Thomson, said that while “most real estate agents are doing the right thing, the Office of Fair Trading will take action against any agents who are breaking the law”.
She stressed the serious nature of trust account failures.
“Queensland renters and property owners expect real estate agents to handle their money properly, in line with the law. Any real estate agent who takes money from a trust account without proper authority is committing a crime.”
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