Convicted money launderer Miten Shah busted working at Zen Element Property in Melbourne

A convicted criminal sentenced to prison for money laundering has been caught working at a Melbourne real estate agency.

Convicted money launderer Miten Shah, 39, has failed in his bid to become a real estate agent after he was busted working without permission at a Melbourne agency.

A convicted criminal sentenced to prison for a $200,000 money laundering scheme has been busted working while disqualified for a Melbourne real estate agency.

Miten Shah, 39, faced on April 15 the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where he’d sworn at an earlier hearing he did not handle cash or property contracts while working without permission at Zen Element Property Group in the CBD.

Shah, a telecommunications professional who moved from India to Australia in 2006, was convicted by the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in 2015 after he pleaded guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime.

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He applied to the Business Licensing Authority in June to work as a real estate agent, but was knocked back because it found he’d worked in the role while disqualified between August 2015 and January 2016.

Shah appealed the BLA’s decision to the tribunal in September.

The tribunal heard this month Shah was sentenced to six months’ jail after he was busted by police with a bag full of suspicious cash in Perth.

Tribunal member John Billings said Western Australia Police pounced on Shah and his mate on Melbourne Cup Day 2014, after they flew to Perth to pick up a plastic bag stashed with $239,550 cash at one of the airport’s terminals.

Shah was released immediately without serving a day of his sentence after promising to be of good behaviour and paying a $1000 bond.

But his conviction meant he was temporarily banned under the Estate Agents Act from working as an agent or property manager unless he gained special permission from the Business Licensing Authority.

Shah was busted with a friend while in possession of more than $239,000 of ill-gotten cash at Perth airport. Picture: Damian Shaw

Shah — who the tribunal heard lost his job as a result of the pandemic but had been offered employment in real estate — failed to disclose his conviction to the BLA when he applied to them in June.

But a review of their records revealed his dodgy work history, and he later admitted to them that he worked “casually” for Zen Element Property.

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He argued he only performed administrative duties on a casual basis and for zero pay, but Mr Billings said he found that difficult to believe.

“Mr Shah did not provide any letter from Zen Element Property or put forward any witness from that company, so there is no evidence from it to support his claim that he was working as a volunteer doing only administrative work,” Mr Billings said.

In his submission to the tribunal, Shah attempted to shirk blame for his offending by saying it was his friend’s idea to travel to Perth and he wasn’t privy to the bag’s contents.

Agents negotiate sales, manage properties and enter people homes when they’re not there, so must be able to be held in a position of trust, the tribunal heard.

Mr Billings said Shah provided “vague” and conflicting evidence and failed to demonstrate “insight or remorse” for his behaviour.

“It appears more likely that Mr Shah did not want to mention that employment to the BLA, because he knew that he was disqualified at the time,” Mr Billings said.

“Real estate agents and their representatives carry with them a great requirement that they have the confidence of the public when dealing with them. They go into people’s homes. They are given the keys to those homes and are able to enter those homes when the owners are not present.

“I am not satisfied that the public would have confidence in Mr Shah as an agent’s representative.”

The tribunal upheld the BLA’s decision to reject Shah’s application to work as a real estate agent. Shah is permitted to make another application to the BLA in the future.

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