A Sydney real estate agent has been jailed for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her client's trust accounts, as fair trading authorities crack down on what they say is a growing problem.

Louise Catherine Sultana admitted to siphoning $330,000 from the accounts of a Century 21 agency between 2010 and 2012.

The pregnant 25-year-old was handed an 18-month jail term with a seven-month non-parole period and is appealing the sentence.

She is the latest of a number of agents around the country to be prosecuted for stealing tens of millions of dollars from the trust accounts of unwitting clients.

Agents hold money in trust accounts on behalf of buyers and the bank accounts cannot be used for any other purpose than for holding funds until they are needed to complete a sale or transaction.

But authorities around the country say trust account fraud is on the rise.

NSW Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe told the ABC his agency had recently changed its policy to crack down on the growing practice.

"It was our view that there was not a strong message going to people in that industry that they wouldn't get away with it," he said.

"While we were taking their licences away, we weren't stopping them from making a living."

Mr Stowe said they were actively seeking criminal prosecution and penalties, including jail terms and fines.

"I think this is a much more effective way of dealing with the crime and also demonstrates to the industry that we are fair dinkum, so that people have a fear of finding themselves in prison if they touch a trust account," he said.

Agents stealing cash to buy drugs, pay gambling debts

Court documents show some agents caught dipping into trust accounts had drug addictions or gambling problems.

In August last year, former LJ Hooker agent Patrick Scott was jailed for 16 months after siphoning around $800,000 from trust accounts to feed his gambling habit.

The court heard Scott bet sums as large as $77,000 in a single day and lost almost $600,000 over a two-year period.

One of his victims, Eleanor Glenn, lost $50,000 after Scott took the money being held in a trust account for her.

Like most victims of the fraud, she was eventually reimbursed by an industry compensation fund, but she stills feels disappointed by the experience.

"It just amazed me that it was going on," Ms Glenn said.

"We had a real estate agent who was all fresh-faced and very professional and really nice when they were showing our place, and behind our back they were siphoning off money from everyone's deposits and rental money.

"[It] was a bit startling that someone would be like that."

Authorities also say many agents take the money to prop up their own business accounts, with every intention of repaying it, but in the end never do.

Illawarra couple Roger and Gordana Ocvirk were jailed late last year after stealing $1.4 million from trust accounts.

The court heard the husband and wife team were running at a significant loss and frequently accessed the trust accounts to pay their debts.

In the past year, NSW Fair Trading has prosecuted six real estate agents for trust account fraud.

It has another 16 cases under investigation and five cases before the courts.

Just last week, another Sydney agent, David Michael Johnson, was sentenced to 16 months' jail after he fleeced two wealthy clients of $980,000.

He handed himself in to Fair Trading, admitting he misappropriated $480,000 from one client and $500,000 from another after selling their multi-million-dollar homes on Sydney's north shore.

The former LJ Hooker agent avoided a jail term, instead receiving a suspended sentence after he told the court that he used the money to buy illegal drugs for his sick wife.

Watchdog warns tempted agents 'you will be caught'

It is a phenomenon that is being seen around the country.

In Queensland last year, the Office of Fair Trading investigated 145 agents for breaches of trust account laws. Of those, 95 faced enforcement action.

The office prosecuted 14 of the most serious cases, with only one being found not guilty.

In June, a Brisbane agent was jailed for five years after he was convicted of misappropriating over $400,000 from trust accounts.

In Victoria it is a similar story. Consumer Affairs Victoria says three agents have been jailed in the past six months and a fourth sentenced to a community corrections order.

Two weeks ago, Daniel McNamara was jailed for 12 months for fraudulently using about $150,000 in trust money.

McNamara had been a licensed agent with First National Real Estate in Numurkah.

Consumer Affairs director Claire Noone said the state's account inspection program sent a clear message to those agents tempted to abuse the trust placed in them: you will be caught.

"Victims are often Victorians making the biggest purchases of their lives, a family home," Ms Noone said.

"This crime ruins lives and the penalties are reflecting the serious damage it causes."

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