Source : Perth Now news
A former NSW property manager who stole more than $180,000 from renters, landlords and her employer is facing a decade-long ban from Fair Trading authorities.
Sarah-Jane Watts admitted to fraudulently obtaining more than $151,800 from Ewing Real Estate in Gunnedah, about 436km northwest of Sydney.
Investigators found she stole $151,800 from the agency’s rental trust account, along with about $35,400 in rental bonds.
NSW Fair Trading’s Rental Bond team first detected suspicious bond activity.
They have now moved to disqualify Watts from the industry for 10 years.
“NSW Fair Trading found Ms Watts’s deception posed a significant risk to consumers, was deliberate and not an isolated incident,” a spokesman said.
“Her conduct also posed a high risk to the integrity of the real estate industry.”
Watts used Ewing Real Estate’s rental trust account to transfer about $151,800 over 162 fraudulent transactions into various personal bank accounts she controlled for more than two years.
She spent the money on lifestyle items including food, visits to the pub, hairdressers, and holidays.
Investigators found Watts concealed her tracks by submitting mid-month and end-of month landlord payments between March 2022 and July 2024.
The Gunnedah Local Court ordered her to serve a 12-month sentence in the community under strict supervision by Community Corrections after she pleaded guilty to two offences.
Watts was also required to pay $35,399 to the Rental Bond Board in compensation, $100,000 to Ewing Real Estate who compensated their clients and $750 court costs.
She was also stripped of her real estate licence.
