Christchurch estate agent pleads guilty to fraudulently taking commissions

Christchurch real estate agent has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining commissions. Photo / File

A real estate agent has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining commissions from the Selwyn District Council after charges were brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Shirley Johnston (66) obtained 13 commission payments from the Selwyn District Council between March 2007 and July 2015 for work that she did not do.

Nearly $150,000 of these payments were transferred into a bank account controlled by her and Stephen Gubb (62), her husband and business partner, the SFO said.

Johnston received the commissions on 13 land sales as a Phoenix Harcourts agent in Christchurch.

However, Johnston was not the real estate agent for these property sales at Izone - a Selwyn District Council business park development located in Rolleston.

Gubb, who was a property consultant at the business park, instructed Buddle Findlay to pay $300,829 in commissions to Phoenix Harcourts which then paid Johnston $149,094 for her purported work.

Johnston has been remanded on bail until sentencing on September 20 at the Christchurch District Court.

Gubb is currently serving a jail sentence of two years and nine months for his part in the scheme as well as a separate offence of submitting a false invoice to the Selwyn District Council.

He has previously been prosecuted by the SFO on fraud charges involving about $1.18 million. He was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment on these charges in December 2003.

Gubb was employed by Hughes Developments Limited as a property consultant. His primary role was to sell Izone land, leases, and design and build packages.

Hughes Developments' responsibilities included managing the sales of lots of land, the design and development work, and to manage small amounts of repairs and maintenance at Izone, which is a Selwyn District Council business hub located in Rolleston.

-- Staff Reporter