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A Sunnybank real estate agent has been convicted on two offences and now faces a nine-month term of imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Shih-Hao Huang and his company Property & Management People Pty Ltd have been fined over $51,000 in the Holland Park Magistrates Court, and had their real estate licences permanently disqualified after an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
A total of five convictions were recorded, with Huang receiving a nine-month term of imprisonment, suspended for a period of two years.
An investigation by the OFT revealed that between June 2022 and November 2023, Huang made 84 unauthorised withdrawals from the trust totalling $1.273 million.
With none of the unauthorised withdrawals or deposits recorded in the trust account, the agent admitted to using the funds for personal expenses such as “investments, paying his mortgage and living expenses”.
Huang pleaded guilty to one charge of dishonestly using trust money belonging to someone else and one charge of not filing a required audit.
His company was also charged for the same offences, in addition to acting as an agent without the appropriate licence and pleaded guilty.
The court reportedly heard that Huang was “embarrassed and ashamed by his actions”, with the agent also acknowledging that what he did was wrong.
The Queensland government also reported that all of the money has been returned to the trust account.
Executive director of the Office of Fair Trading, Craig Turner, emphasised that “any real estate agent who intentionally takes money from a trust account without proper authority is committing a crime”.
“Real estate professionals hold a position of trust and work with large sums of other people’s money so it is essential they abide by the law and follow appropriate processes at all times.”
“The Office of Fair Trading will continue to take action against dishonest property agents who are breaking the law,” Turner said.
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