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The Sydney agent has also been accused of sabotaging business records on his way out.
NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has ordered that the licence of Roger Agha, a former employee of Devine Real Estate, should be cancelled for a period of 12 months due to circumstances related to the agent’s exit from the business.
NCAT found that Agha’s licence should be cancelled over his display of a “lack candour and the tendency to act dishonestly”, and therefore breaching his obligations under the Corporations Act, in relation to his dealings with a number of former Devine clients.
Agha admitted that he took some clients with him when he exited the firm, but a lesser number than was claimed by NCAT, stating that he believed it was “the clients’ choice as to which agent to use”.
The agent also admitted that he used confidential information from Devine in his new position, believing that he was entitled to do so, which the NCAT ruling deemed was “opportunistic and improper”.
This ruling is tied to a long-running legal saga involving Agha and his former employer that is still making its way through the NSW Supreme Court.
Agha became a shareholder, director and employee of Devine in 2008, working with the firm for almost a decade before tendering his resignation on 8 December 2017.
As Agha carried out his exit from the company, disputes arose about the terms of his share entitlement – Agha feeling that it was unreasonable to have to discontinue working within a certain “area of restraint” for a period of three years to be entitled to his shares.
In March 2018, Devine commenced proceedings against Agha in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, alleging that he had siphoned clients from Devine, taken confidential contact lists, and altered the contact phone numbers of more than 900 clients upon his exit as an act of sabotage.
In a 2019 ruling, the NSW Supreme Court decided that Agha had likely engaged in “systematic and repeated sabotage” of Devine’s client records, and that suggesting otherwise is “contrary to common sense”.
Agha has repeatedly denied that he made alterations to the data.
The Supreme Court was also satisfied that he engaged in breach by siphoning customers from the Devine Group, and that he breached the restraints of his shareholder’s agreement by exploiting the confidential client lists of the Devine Group to his personal advantage.
NCAT, however, did not agree with the Supreme Court ruling that it was clear Agha had engaged in the sabotage, and has made its order relating to his licence based on the agent’s handling of clients. Agha reportedly plans to appeal the decision.
The proceedings between Agha and Devine are set to once again be taken up by the NSW Supreme Court on 21 October.
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