Revealed: criminals and unlicensed agents operating across Australia’s real estate sector

Transparency International Australia says international regulators and the federal government have ‘clearly identified real estate as being at very high risk of money laundering involving organised crime gangs’. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

Convicted criminals and unlicensed agents are operating in the real estate sector across multiple states, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.

In New South Wales, the Guardian has established that two individuals convicted of dishonesty offences have been allowed back into the industry well within the usual 10-year prohibition, and that gaps in the law mean convicted money launderers are able to find their way back into the industry.