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A recent listing in Melbourne resulted in an assault charge, defamation suit and intervention order application as rivalry between two agents heated up.
In March last year it is alleged that agent Vikram Pal of Ace Real Estate assaulted Suneet Kumar of Stockdale and Leggo Laverton.
Both agents, operating out of Laverton in Melbourne’s south-west, were attending an appraisal of a 648-square metre property when the incident occurred.
Police charged Mr Pal with assaulting and threating to kill Mr Kumar, who had looked through the 10-bedroom unit block on behalf of the owner.
The owner gave a statement as part of the case, telling police that he witnessed Mr Pal punch Mr Kumar in the face.
According to police, Mr Kumar was out of the front of the property when he saw Mr Pal park his vehicle in front of his.
It is then alleged that Mr Pal went up to Mr Kumar and accused him of approaching his clients.
The police brief of evidence reads: “He accused then grabbed the victim by the collar, raised a clenched fist over his shoulder and said, ‘I will kill you, you don't know how powerful I am’. The victim then told the accused to step back and leave him alone.”
Mr Pal denied all wrongdoing in an interview, saying he did not grab Mr Kumar or threaten him.
Mr Kumar posted about the incident on Facebook, saying the accused “could not handle competition and chose this as an easy solution to shut me down”.
Mr Pal alleged that the post was defamatory and filed civil proceedings against Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar for his part, made an application for an intervention order against Mr Pal to cease all contact.
Both criminal and civil proceedings never made it to court as the police dropped the criminal charges due to inconsistent evidence.
The intervention order was withdrawn, and the defamation suit was settled pre-trial with Mr Pal receiving an undisclosed sum.
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