Here’s a selection of the cases the OFT tackled in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

SPECIAL SCAMMERS SERIES – ONLINE THIS WEEK

Part 1: ‘Gift of the gab’: Scams leaves hundreds heartbroken

Part 2: Meet the heroes saving Coast from more pain

Part 4: Why there are growing fears over new dodgy deals

GOLD COAST PROSECUTION OUTCOMES 2019-20

Realty check as unlicensed agent receives $5000 fine

Former Varsity Lakes real estate agent Kylie Jane Beecroft-Wilson, former sole director and principal licensee of Beecroft‑Wilson Real Estate Pty Ltd, pleaded guilty to operating as a real estate agent without a licence and making false representations that she held approval to supply real estate agency services for a period of time when she did not.

She was fined $5000 and a conviction was not recorded.

Gold Coast odometer tamperer rolled

Paradise Point’s Simon Michael Birch was fined $17,000 in Southport Magistrates Court after being investigated for falsifying odometer readings.

Simon Michael Birch pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Motor Dealers and Chattel Auctioneers Act 2014 by making false or misleading representations about the distance travelled by four motor vehicles. He was fined $17,000 and a conviction was not recorded.

Former Gold Coast property agent’s disqualification confirmed

Property agent Sarah Louise Penney-Filippini, who was fined $3000 and disqualified from holding a real estate licence or salesperson’s certificate for three years, had her appeal dismissed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

The appeal by Penney-Filippini, of Heather Filippini Island Realty, followed disciplinary proceedings initiated by the OFT in 2016.

It was found Penney-Fillipini failed to meet requirements relating to her business trust account and employed her mother, Ms Heather Filippini, who had been permanently disqualified from the industry since 2009.

Gold Coast car dealer suspended for six months

Gold Coast motor dealer Pravis Amiri, also known as Pablo Amiri, had his motor dealer licence suspended for six months by QCAT.

Amiri, who operates Gold Coast Automobiles, was investigated after failing to refund a consumer’s $440 deposit she paid towards the purchase of a second-hand vehicle.

Fine of $45,000 for non-supply of Bali huts

Yatala-based businesswoman Danielle Nancy Whitaker and her company were ordered to pay$124,806.25 in fines and compensation by the Beenleigh Magistrates Court after charges were laid by the OFT.

Whitaker, sole director of Accouter Pty Ltd trading as Airmaze, pleaded guilty to seven counts of failing to supply goods within a reasonable time under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Gold Coast curtain supplier blind to consumer rights

Judith Eleanor, a curtain supplier operating from her home in Surfers Paradise, was ordered to pay $5842 in fines, costs and compensation by Brisbane Magistrates Court after an investigation. The sole operator of Covers Décor, was found guilty of wrongly accepting payment under the Australian Consumer Law.

Gold Coast man’s fence fine

Pimpama man Cory Thomas McEvoy was ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and $300 in compensation by the Southport Magistrates Court.

He was found guilty of breaching the ACL after he took payment from a Shailer Park resident for the supply and installation of a pool fence, but did not complete the job.

Mr McEvoy took a $300 deposit from a consumer without specifying a completion date for the supply and installation of the pool fence.

Unlicensed Gumtree motor dealer fined $1500

Robina man Rick Noel Attard was fined $1500 for unlicensed motor dealing in Southport Magistrates Court.

He pleaded guilty to one count of acting as an unlicensed motor dealer. No conviction was recorded. Mr Attard carried out the business of a motor dealer by placing advertisements on Gumtree.com.au to sell nine used vehicles, the court was told.

PROSECUTION OUTCOMES 2018-19

Travel agent fined for keeping money for beachside getaway

Varsity Lakes travel agent Riley Lance Martin was fined $500 in Southport Magistrates Court for failing to supply services after charges were laid by the OFT.

The sole director of Exchange Travel Pty Ltd, trading as Travelalot, pleaded guilty to one charge of wrongly accepting payment and failing to supply a service under the ACL.

Online lingerie seller fails to deliver

Coomera online retailer Marcel Ivan Shears was fined $8000 and ordered to pay more than $1600 in compensation in Southport Magistrates Court after being found guilty of charges.

Shears, sole operator of two online underwear and lingerie retail stores advertising as Isabella’s Passion and Blush Bras and Lingerie, was found guilty of three counts of failing to supply goods and four counts of making false or misleading representations under the ACL.

Breach of trust - agent permanently disqualified from the industry

Former Shailer Park and Gold Coast real estate agent Robert Ian Campbell was convicted in Beenleigh Magistrates court for misusing clients’ trust account money.

Campbell was sentenced to three months imprisonment, wholly suspended, with an operational period of 18 months.

Gold Coast motor dealers and company hoodwinked consumers

Carrara businessman Andrew Fraser-Scott and his company pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court after charges were laid by the OFT.

Mr Fraser-Scott and AFS Corporation Pty Ltd, trading as Brisbane Dealer Auctions and The Cartel Dealers in Southport, pleaded guilty to 11 breaches of the Motor Dealers and Chattel Auctioneers Act 2014 (MDCA) and 66 breaches of the ACL.

Mr Fraser-Scott was fined $30,000 and AFS Corporation Pty Ltd was fined $20,000. The company was also ordered to pay $33,269 in compensation. No conviction was recorded.

Law outbids unlicensed Gold Coast motor dealer

Southport woman Emilia Lloyd was fined $6000 in Southport Magistrates Court after being found guilty of carrying on the business of a motor dealer while unlicensed under the MDCA.

Ms Lloyd was reported after being accused of bidding for vehicles at a dealers-only auction while unlicensed.

Gold Coast tradesman ordered to pay $253,500 for unfinished jobs

Ali Faraj was ordered to pay more than $253,500 in fines and compensation in Southport Magistrates Court after being found guilty of making false representations about holding a Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) builder’s licence. Mr Faraj, who used the aliases Ali Mousselmani, Kamil Kassem and Kamil Mousselmani, was also found guilty of three counts of accepting payment and failing to supply goods and services within a reasonable time. He was fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $193,500 in compensation.

Gold Coast property manager busted siphoning trust money

Gold Coast property manager Leslee Ann Hall was ordered to pay $1200 in Southport Magistrates Court for stealing from her employer’s trust account.

She pleaded guilty to 21 counts of wrongfully converting trust money and was fined $1200 and $96.15 in court costs.

Ms Hall made 21 unauthorised transactions totalling $2493.66 from her employer’s trust account for her own use.

Wheels of justice turn for Gold Coast auto supplies seller

Southport’s Luke Glassford was fined $2000 plus court costs in Southport Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to two counts of wrongly accepting payment for goods he failed to supply. Glassford was the sole trader of East Coast Tyre and Auto which operated from a shopfront in Southport and an online store.

(Source: Office of Fair Trading Queensland)