Brisbane property manager stole from own agency to pay her rent

The former property manager was fined $10,000 and banned from practising for 10 years. domain.com.au Brisbane property manager fined, banned for diverting money to pay her own rent Jan 22, 2017 Jim Malo Property reporter The Director-General of the Queensland Justice Department said Sarah Ford showed no remorse. Photo: Jim Rice facebook twitter pinterest linkedin email print A former Springwood property manager has been fined $10,000 and banned from practising for 10 years for diverting rental payments to pay her own rent. Sarah Ford, 33, stole the money while working for her brother’s agency, Progress Properties, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal recently heard. There were 17 tenants and their respective landlords caught up in the theft, but the payments were diverted and reversed in a way that only financially affected Progress Properties. Ms Ford stole $10,695.48 from January 2013 to February 2014. The tribunal, headed by Jeremy Gordon, also heard Ms Ford had made no attempt to repay the money. Mr Gordon said Ms Ford diverted money from clients 26 times and made attempts to cover up her thefts by splitting the money into smaller amounts before using it to credit her account. Ms Ford’s brother discovered the fraudulent payments when a tenant raised the alarm by arguing about their rent position. When questioned, Ms Ford denied the allegations and said that she made an honest mistake. Days later, he discovered a second discrepancy and launched a full investigation. Mr Gordon said Ms Ford was well aware that she was stealing. “The division of the payments made … seems to have been done to keep the fraudulent transactions concealed for as long as possible,” he said. Ms Ford, who received her real estate salesperson certificate just six months before the first theft, did not show up to the hearing and did respond to any correspondence from the Department of Justice. Mr Gordon described the thefts as a breach of trust and said the hefty fine and ban imposed on Ford would “protect the public and to maintain public confidence in the industry”. “There has been no money repaid by Ms Ford and there is nothing to show that she is remorseful in any way,” he said. In determining his penalty, Mr Gordon said he needed to have regard to the fact that real estate agencies were entrusted with people’s money, and “utmost confidence” in the industry needed to be maintained. Ms Ford has not faced any criminal proceedings. ================ 30 Comments12 Shares 73 Residential & Commercial Real Estate Investment, South Australia, Quoc Anh Nguyen Duc, Zed Nasheet and 70 others Chronological LikeCommentShare Comments Who can see this? Tay Sharna Emma Line Unlike · Reply · 1 · 25 January at 01:23 Steph Davie Chanel McNeight 🤦🏼‍♀️ Unlike · Reply · 1 · 25 January at 06:22 Iolanthe Gattuso Emma Like · Reply · 25 January at 13:17 Dominic Truter Far too soft. She's still ended up ahead financially and temporarily banned from an industry she more than likely never intended returning to. Huge reform needed in governance of this shonky industry. Unlike · Reply · 4 · 25 January at 13:19 Karen 'Abby' Mowatt David Frangiosa Mick Heasman Unlike · Reply · 2 · 25 January at 22:58 Hayden Freier Amy Wilkosz Unlike · Reply · 1 · 26 January at 07:13 Amy Wilkosz Dodgy! Unlike · Reply · 1 · 26 January at 08:31 Write a reply... Dave Hooper Owen Unlike · Reply · 1 · 26 January at 07:17 Bec Cook Kylie Walton Unlike · Reply · 1 · 26 January at 10:52 1 Reply Bec Cook Shirley Shirls sound formula Unlike · Reply · 2 · 26 January at 10:52 1 Reply Kathleen Tamminen I do not understand why there are no criminal charges? She was embezzling and committing fraud for over a year. Future employers deserve to be warned of her sticky fingers - from her own brother no less! - and not put her anywhere near their money. Unlike · Reply · 3 · 26 January at 11:31 David Melatti Undoubtedly She should be banned for life. Put it this way, she will never be employed by any decent agency, and if she opens her own, who would In their right Mind trust her with their biggest investment. Unlike · Reply · 1 · 26 January at 16:31 Dean Efrossynis Scott Martel Unlike · Reply · 1 · 27 January at 12:58 Tuan Nguyen Elly Fatouros dis you??? Unlike · Reply · 2 · 28 January at 00:13 Elly Fatouros Sillly woman Unlike · Reply · 1 · 28 January at 08:34 Residential & Commercial Real Estate Investment, South Australia I am sure she is all set to join another career. Like · Reply · 9 mins Write a reply... Danielle Wood Bryce Greig Like · Reply · 28 January at 01:28 Renee McArthur Wandah Heaydon Maddi Campbell wouldn't be surprised if our real estate was doing this hah Property manager gets sacked then our rent is mysteriously missing Kkkkkkkkkk Unlike · Reply · 2 · 28 January at 11:08 Maddi Campbell Hahaha jeez Unlike · Reply · 2 · 28 January at 11:12 Wandah Heaydon Omg HAHAHAHA imagine it Unlike · Reply · 2 · 28 January at 11:20 Write a reply... Ammie-Louise Wicks Megan Amber McCarthy Phoebe Kelleher Unlike · Reply · 2 · 28 January at 19:22 Megan Amber McCarthy 😳 whyyy! From family too 😒 Like · Reply · 28 January at 19:27 Write a reply... Sarah Nguyen Sally Le Steven Wei ahahaha Unlike · Reply · 3 · 29 January at 21:29 Sally Le Struggles Like · Reply · 29 January at 22:00 Write a reply... Kristy Morton Not good enough stealing hurts every one very bad. It causes so much stress Unlike · Reply · 1 · 29 January at 22:06 Jesse Carter No conviction Unlike · Reply · 1 · 30 January at 10:06 Leanne Son Alex DaNobrega Like · Reply · 30 January at 16:47 Wei Hon Ho Make an example out of her... Unlike · Reply · 1 · 30 January at 21:18 Mia Jecsak 🤔 "hefty fine" ?? Ha. She stole more than she was fined for Pete's sake. Showed no remorse or intention to repay and yet in ten years time she can do it all again... Way to instil confidence back in the industry 👍🏼🤦🏼‍♀️ Unlike · Reply · 1 · 30 January at 22:10 Residential & Commercial Real Estate Investment, South Australia Exactly, in the mean she can join TAFE to teach new realtors how to manage Trust Accounts. Like · Reply · 6 mins Write a reply... Anthony Lang Jail wil send a very clear message to agents - slow learners. They do it because the law is soft Unlike · Reply · 1 · 31 January at 15:49 Julian Lebdeh Alessandra Knez Unlike · Reply · 1 · 1 February at 14:11 Julian Lebdeh Tiana Rubeidis Unlike · Reply · 1 · 1 February at 14:11 Tiana Rubeidis Jesus !! Unlike · Reply · 1 · 1 February at 14:28 Write a reply... Matthew Scott Kylie Samson Unlike · Reply · 2 · 1 February at 20:11 Write a reply... Sarah Long Love it how they do something against an agent when it's wronging the agency. If its wronging a tenant nothing happens. Unlike · Reply · 1 · 19 hrs Residential & Commercial Real Estate Investment, South Australia Exactly, but good tenants are suffering due to bad history tenants Like · Reply · 4 mins Write a reply... Thor Luke Thieves everywhere Unlike · Reply · 1 · 12 hrs Residential & Commercial Real Estate Investment, South Australia Don't hire anyone before thorough Police Report. Recover all lost money by selling her properties. Like · Reply ·