Ex-estate agent charged over $10m property scam

The Serious Fraud Office has charged a man allegedly involved in an elaborate $10 million property scam which saw him banned as a real estate agent for life.

Philip Julian Cavanagh was permanently barred from selling property in December after a Real Estate Agents Licensing Board ruled he was part of a valuation rort.

A disciplinary hearing heard evidence that the 40-year-old inflated house values in the booming Auckland market, convincing banks to lend more than the properties were worth, then selling the properties to make a profit.

The banks failed to question the deals and ask for a property valuation because the applications came from Cavanagh, a Barfoot & Thompson real estate agent, on the firm's trusted letterhead.

The company discovered the alleged deception and alerted the banks, who froze the finance deals, then suspended Cavanagh. He was banned as a real estate agent for life.

To read the full NZ Herald article, click here

Posted: 24 Jul 2009

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