Closure of 6 LJ Hooker offices

Discussion in 'The Buying & Selling Process' started by Skilled_Migrant, 29th Apr, 2016.

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  1. leicachamp

    leicachamp Well-Known Member

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    I think the husband is taking all responsibility. No point in both of them going to jail.

    But in reality both are just as guilty.
     
  2. CU@THETOP

    CU@THETOP Well-Known Member

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    Ever since watching The Deerhunter I knew Vietnamese love to gamble.
     
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  3. Skilled_Migrant

    Skilled_Migrant Well-Known Member

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  4. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

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    Millions missing from trust and millions spent on houses for the owners over past 2.5 years. I wonder where it went...
     
  5. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    My guess is vietnam...Not a bad way to do it. Rip off millions, stash it in an unreoverable location and get slapped on the wrist before retireming big time.
     
  6. Shady

    Shady Well-Known Member

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    Exactly. What does it take to get locked up? Seems misappropriating a million or two isn't enough.
     
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  7. CU@THETOP

    CU@THETOP Well-Known Member

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    Came across a great scam years ago run by a Vietnamese bloke. Cigarette shop owner sells his business to a Vietnamese buyer. Sells business for $1. Seller wants out as it is not making any money and this way the buyer takes over the lease obligations. Buyer takes up credit facilities with all the cigarette wholesalers/manufacturers. Buyer runs up about $500k+ in debt to get stock and one Monday morning the shopping centre opens up to find the stall cleaned out. Buyer had taken the stock- sold it for cash and bolted back to the old country. Given that it was cigarette companies losing out I must admit I had less outrage and more admiration for the perp.
     
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  8. Ted Varrick

    Ted Varrick Well-Known Member

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    One would hope this is not too embarrassingly awkward for the forthcoming LJ Hooker IPO...
     
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  9. Shady

    Shady Well-Known Member

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    I think someone else already mentioned but....It's just a normal bank account, the principal/PM/Accountant or who ever has access to transfer funds can transfer funds as easy as any other account.
    They may have half a million in rent coming through the account each month plus maybe another half million in deposits a month. It's a lot of money and some people just cant help themselves.

    There are plenty of rules and regulations about trust accounts but for the most part there is no outside involvement except for the once a year audit report. These accounts do not earn interest, thats not to say that the bank has the money for free, what interest that would have been earned gets paid by the bank to Fair Trading and goes into a Fidelity Guarantee Fund which is used to cover any misappropriated funds by dodgy agents.
     
  10. mrdobalina

    mrdobalina Well-Known Member

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    Yep. I wouldn't be surprised if they were high rollers at crown.
     
  11. TMNT

    TMNT Well-Known Member

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    When i first heard about trust accounts i thought to myself. With no intention to rip anyone off it would be a secondary income if you could take it out and put it into a high interest savings account and obviously give it back when needed

    1m at 3% is 30k
    Not peanuts
     
  12. Ran Gus

    Ran Gus Well-Known Member

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    The trust account needs to be audited annually, and its extremely likely the auditor is going to query why money is being withdrawn from the account. Apart from that it'd be money for jam!

    Speaking of audits, the firm I work for specifically avoids REA trust account audits because many agents seem to be pretty poor at keeping their trust accounts compliant. Clearly not to the level of these LJ Hooker franchises where fraud is involved, but enough issues to make the job a real pain in the ass.
     
  13. datto

    datto Well-Known Member

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    I remember watching the movie Deliverance and the scene "let me hear you squeal Jimmy"

    A lot are getting screwed over by these two.

    "Thank you Mr Hooker"
     
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  14. sash

    sash Well-Known Member

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    'ang on guv...correction it was "squeal like a pig Jimmy..wanta hear you squeal like a pig" following by grunting noises.....
     
  15. Plutus

    Plutus Well-Known Member

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    I've always assumed that REA's do this with deposits. score a few % on it while waiting for settlement. Its how travel companies like Wotif (used to.. not sure today) make their $$, take the $$ today & hold it until the customer checks into the hotel.
     
  16. JacM

    JacM VIC Buyer's Agent - Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat Business Member

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    From the LJ Hooker website itself;

    "If you pay your deposit to an real estate agent, it will be paid into a trust account they operate. No interest is payable from this type of account. Certain states allow deposits to be held in an interest-bearing deposit account at a bank. You may wish to have your solicitor negotiate with the vendor's solicitor for any interest received to be shared equally between the purchaser and vendor."

    Taken from http://www.ljhooker.com.au/buy/buying-faqs/purchase-deposit
     
  17. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    Breach of trust and breach of various laws if this were to be done.
     
  18. datto

    datto Well-Known Member

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    I had one PM who gave my tenant his bond back in cash!

    This PM used to rave on about gambling on English soccer matches, which was a bit of a worry because I had difficulty getting my rent money out of him.

    Needless to say, he went broke, sold what was left of his rent roll and now works as a salesman.
     
  19. magma

    magma Active Member

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    let's now wait and see how lightly this will be handled.
     
  20. Jacque

    Jacque Jacque Parker Premium Member

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    Theft pure and simple. Trust account fraud will always be too tempting for some principals and, as other cases have arisen eg: No Cookies | Daily Telegraph and they get away with minor consequences little will change. Thieves take risks and bear little thought to those who suffer financially as a result of their actions.

    One of my BAs used to do trust account auditing in RE offices and has seen it all- from the shifty cover-ups to the squeaky clean and little surprises her. With annual auditing, however, they are eventually caught out.