High-flying real estate agent accused of buying his own listing

Former employees of a high-profile Toorak-based real estate agent claim he was a secret director of syndicates that bought two development sites on Melbourne’s outer fringes that he or his company were selling, in an alleged breach of the law.

The six former agents alleged in documents filed in the Supreme Court last year that they had been part of a number of property-buying syndicates guided by Manpreet Dandiwal, who heads PSP Property Group, but that they had not received the agreed profits from the deals. The case was dismissed in February after an out-of-court settlement.

Under Section 55 of Victoria’s Estate Agents Act 1980, it is an offence for an estate agent or an agent’s representative to obtain a beneficial interest in a property that they have been commissioned to sell. The only way for an agent to avoid breaching these rules is to have written consent from the vendor and to not claim a commission from the sale.

The documents contain allegations that Mr Dandiwal was the “guiding mind” and “shadow director” of groups which had covertly bought two packages of land. The sellers of the two properties have confirmed Mr Dandiwal and his PSP company received hefty commissions on the sales, including more than $250,000 for one property.

Through his lawyer, Ben Waterson, Mr Dandiwal said The Age had been given misleading information and that the allegations in the statement of claim had no validity as the case had been dismissed.

The allegations come after Mr Dandiwal was arrested and charged with serious assault after a brawl involving more than 10 men at a Bulleen park in September, where he and two PSP employees, who are also his nephews, clashed with some of his former staff. He has previously said he was acting in self-defence and that he will vigorously defend the charges.

Rural land on the city’s boundary can become extremely valuable if it is rezoned to allow suburban subdivisions. Mr Dandiwal claims to have negotiated sales of $3 billion in the past decade, and has adopted as his motto, “everything I touch turns to sold”.

In their statement of claim, the six real estate agents say their former boss participated in a syndicate buying development-ready properties in Rockbank, Melton, Wollert, Plumpton and Mount Cottrell.

They allege a WhatsApp group including Mr Dandiwal was created to discuss buying one property on Melbourne’s outer northern fringe through a company called Wollert Springs Co Pty Ltd. The agents claim Mr Dandiwal advised that the syndicate would own half the property and a second businessman would own the remainder. Mr Dandiwal had instructed that the money for the transaction be deposited into the account of a third businessman, the documents allege, who is a director of Wollert Springs Co Pty Ltd.