Singapore property firm and agent fined S$16,000 for misrepresenting NZ deal
(AFP file photo of a skyline in Auckland)
A Singapore property agency has been fined S$10,000 after one of its agents misrepresented about a deal in New Zealand, causing a client to lose tens of thousands of dollars.
The errant agent from SQFT Global Properties Singapore (SQFT), Paleenia Wong Mui Wah, was also fined S$6,000 for her wrongful handling of the sale of a unit of Albany Heights Villas in Auckland, New Zealand in 2011.
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), which imposed the fines, said in a statement on Monday (5 December) that Wong told her client to pay the NZ$65,000 (S$65,790), which she said would be kept safe in a trust account for the construction of the property.
Wong also said that the developer, Albany Heights Villa (AHV), would not be able to use the money in the account for other purposes.
But CEA said that Wong made a misrepresentation as the developer, which went into liquidation in February 2013, took money from the account in June 2011 without beginning construction of the property.
Neither SQFT nor Wong conducted due diligence on the account, which has no restriction on withdrawal of funds by the developer, CEA added.
