OFT bans Northern Ireland estate agent

The OFT has made a prohibition order against a Northern Ireland estate agent banning him from estate agency work.

Sidney Mawhinney was a sole trader who operated under his own name in Carryduff, County Down.

At Downpatrick Crown Court on 18 November 2005, he pleaded guilty to eleven counts of theft and thirteen counts of false accounting. On 28 March 2006, at the same court, he was sentenced to four years imprisonment suspended for four years.

Mawhinney accepted sums of money from clients on the pretext that this would be used to buy land suitable for development and that he would obtain planning permission for these developments. The 21 victims of his dishonesty lost in excess of £220,000.

Ray Hall, OFT Director of Markets and Projects said: “When choosing an estate agent, consumers need to know that they are honest and trustworthy. If agents engage in any form of fraudulent conduct, the OFT will take steps to prevent them working in the profession.”

(JM/SP)