Redcliffe, Queensland agent fined $10,000 for trust account abuse

A real estate agent in Redcliffe, Queensland, has been fined $10,000 and ordered to pay more than $39,000 by QCAT over wrongful conversion of trust monies, following multiple charges brought by the Office of Fair Trading.

The real estate agent, Jason Hoppner, was found guilty of the multiple charges.

The funds in the trust account were due to be paid to five landlords, but the money was then diverted into three separate bank accounts. Each of these were owned by Hopper. In total, thirteen payments were diverted to his accounts from December 2010 and April 2011.

The funds totalled over $12,000, and 23 affected consumers saw themselves paid $30,368.21 by the Office of Fair Trading, with another five currently owed $8668.11.

Hopper has been ordered to pay $39,036.32 and has been disqualified from holding a real estate agent’s license for 15 years.