Real estate agents in Sydney and NSW who faced charges in court this year

Often perceived as swanky professionals, these NSW real estate agents have had to face court this year thanks to poor decision-making.

Real estate has been a hot topic this year.

The property market boomed during the pandemic but suffered a recent blow with Sydney’s home prices slumping as much as $330,000.

It was one of the first signs of market recovery yet mortgage stress is still very real for homeowners.

Houses that went under the hammer gained much attention this year and so too did the agents selling them – at times, for the wrong reasons.

Here are some of Sydney’s badly behaved real estate agents who faced the courts in 2022.

JADE GRECH

Former Double Bay real estate agent Jade Grech pleaded guilty to secretly filming himself and a girlfriend having sex.

Jade Grech. Picture: Facebook

When the woman confronted him over a video he sent to her via WhatsApp in February 2021, a series of texts was shared between them.

Grech, 39, pleaded guilty to intentionally recording an image without consent and installing or using a device to record a conversation after the woman discovered he had also been secretly recording her in her car.

In court, Magistrate Robyn Denes dismissed those charges on mental health grounds, which means no convictions were recorded, leaving the victim to feel “forgotten” by the system.

BENJAMIN CASSEN

Double Bay sales executive Ben Cassen was found guilty of drug possession after being caught with cocaine.

Police facts revealed that police overheard Cassen chatting to a mate while withdrawing cash at a Commonwealth Bank ATM near the Golden Sheaf Hotel on August 26 this year.

Ben Cassen. Picture: Realestate.com

Officers pounced on the real estate agent after he briefly got in and out of a car following his cash withdrawal and found three clear resealable bags of white powder in his possession.

Cassen was sentenced to a Conditional Release Order for 12 months and no conviction was recorded.

HELEN ANDREWS

Former real estate worker Helen Andrews was sentenced after failing to have charges of assaulting and resisting police officers and refusing to submit to a breath analysis dealt with on mental health grounds.

Helen Andrews. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

Andrews, 32, from Potts Point was caught driving while more than four times the legal limit on the night of July 24.

The court was told when police arrested her, she refused to enter the caged vehicle and drunkenly kicked an officer in the throat.

The magistrate accepted Andrews had mental health conditions but noted the actions were too serious to record a non-conviction.

Andrews apologised to police and was convicted and sentenced to a community correction order for 12 months.

SLADE SMALL

Slade Small pleaded guilty to five counts of dishonestly obtaining advantage by deception after defrauding more than $300,000 from the sale of six separate homes.

Slade Small outside Nowra Local Court. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

The 31-year-old Illawarra real estate agent swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from house sales across the south coast between August 2021 and February 2022 by retaining deposits intended for vendors.

Among his victims were a mother and daughter first-homebuyer duo and a 93-year-old retiree selling her family home.

OLIVIA WATHEN

Olivia Wathen, 24, was charged with mid-range drink driving after police noticed she was driving on the wrong side of a median strip on Gerrale St in Cronulla on February 25 this year.

Olivia Wathen. Picture: John Grainger

The aspiring real estate agent returned a positive breath test reading of 0.08 and apologised for her actions later in court where she pleaded guilty and represented herself for sentencing.

Wathen was already on a one-year conditional release order without conviction at the time for possessing cocaine, with the bond active until April this year.

She was convicted for drink driving, fined $600 and had her licence disqualified for three months.

She will also be subject to an interlock licence for 12 months when she can drive again.