Former LJ Hooker franchisee pleads not guilty to more than 300 charges

A FORMER LJ Hooker franchisee in Melbourne’s east allegedly stole millions in clients’ funds and has pleaded not guilty to more than 300 charges.

Judy Thanh Truc has pleaded not guilty to more than 300 charges.

A FORMER LJ Hooker franchisee accused of stealing millions of dollars of clients’ money has pleaded not guilty to her hundreds of charges.

Truc Thanh Le Nguyen — also known as Judy Thanh Truc and Judy Nguyen — will face the County Court for a directions hearing on November 2 after entering her plea.

Ms Nguyen has been charged with a total 345 breaches of the Estate Agents Act, after Consumer Affairs Victoria brought 22 new charges and withdrew eight others.

Judy Thanh Truc (or Judy Nguyen, Truc Thanh Le Nguyen) and Joseph Ngo (or Tri Doc Ngo) formerly of LJ Hooker leave court together.

Her husband and co-accused, Tri Duc Ngo, who also goes by Joseph Ngo, will front the County Court on November 8 after pleading guilty to 163 charges of his own.

Ms Nguyen and Mr Ngo are accused of plundering trust accounts and stealing house deposits of clients of six LJ Hooker offices in Melbourne’s east — of which Ms Nguyen was the director and her husband an employee — in 2015-16.

The court previously heard about $4 million had gone missing, but some had been paid back so the total loss was $2.1 million.

CAV suspended Ms Nguyen’s real estate license in May after she was employed by a new Springvale agency Oz Capital Real Estate, where she is listed as a “business development manager.”