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A former Victorian agent who misused more than $100,000 in trust account funds has been sentenced to 350 hours of community service.
Melbourne Magistrates’ Court handed down the two-year community corrections order to Lawrence Paul Vella of Taylors Hill, who pleaded guilty to two charges under the Estate Agents Act, each involving four occasions of causing a deficiency in a trust account and wrongfully converting trust money.
Mr Vella was the officer in effective control of Prestige Property Agents when he removed $105,915 of clients’ money from the firm’s trust account between 26 April and 11 June 2019.
The maximum charges could have resulted in a sentence of up to 10 years in jail, and penalties of more than $92,000.
The misuse of funds came to light when Prestige’s parent company, Pelligra Group Pty Ltd., carried out an audit.
Consumer Affairs director Nicole Rich said the case highlighted the importance of conducting regular trust account audits in order to catch any accounting irregularities quickly before they’re able to grow into a bigger problem.
“Managing trust account funds is a core responsibility for estate agents, and clients should not have to fear that their funds will be used for personal gain,” she said.
“Consumer Affairs Victoria will continue to investigate and take action against agents who put clients’ money at risk and tarnish the industry’s reputation.”
She said the outcome of this case should serve as a strong reminder to agents that they will be held accountable if they misuse trust account funds.
In this case, all of the money that had been removed from the trust account has been repaid.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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