WA sales rep cops 10-year ban

PHOTO: The Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal

A Western Australian real estate sales representative has been banned from the sector for 10 years due to a number of serious convictions and a failure to inform the state’s consumer protection body.

The Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal has banned James Mitsopoulos from working in the industry for ten years after he was convicted of extortion, assault and perverting the course of justice.

He also failed to inform the state’s consumer protection of the outcome of his District Court trial, which was pending at the time of his registration renewal in May 2017.

According to a statement from the Government of Western Australia’s consumer protection division, Mr Mitsopoulos was convicted of a threat with intent to gain benefit (extortion) and an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

As a result, he was sentenced to a prison sentence of five-and-a-half years – related to an incident in the carpark of a business premises in March 2016.

That incident saw Mr Mitsopoulos and three others verbally abuse and threaten a victim for an immediate $50,000 payment.