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By his own admission, Kim Sarkin has been struggling to get on his feet financially since he arrived in Australia more than 18 months ago. Not that you would know it from his choice of real estate.
Since Sarkin and his wife, Hayley, left New Zealand with their three children in tow, they have rented seven multimillion-dollar properties in some of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs – and defaulted on the rent on all of them.
In a bid to recoup their losses, half a dozen of those landlords have resorted to legal action, taking their claims for more than $100,000 in unpaid rent to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). In the process, they have revealed allegations of fake references and doctored receipts for purported rent and bond payments.
Sarkin, a data and AI governance specialist from South Africa, acknowledged the payment orders by NCAT this week.
“We plan to pay them all back once we’re on our feet, so I am trying to get my financial situation under control,” he said. “It’s not like I set out to create a problem. These things have happened, which is really unfortunate. There was never any intent to harm these people.”
In follow-up correspondence, Sarkin’s lawyer reiterated that Sarkin planned to repay the charges, but denied assertions that he had doctored payment receipts.
“Mr Sarkin rejects any inference that he is living the high life by reason of residing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. He is doing the best for his family under difficult economic circumstances.”
Just how difficult was not disclosed in Sarkin’s rental applications. When Sarkin arrived in Sydney, his business consultancy in New Zealand had recently been placed in receivership, and soon after it was ordered into liquidation by the Auckland High Court, owing almost $NZ1 million ($820,000) in unpaid taxes. He has since declared himself bankrupt in New Zealand.
Sarkin’s first known landlord in Sydney wasn’t aware of that. When Sarkin took the keys to a four-bedroom semi in Bondi, the landlord was simply told he worked for Woolworths, and a relative of Hayley Sarkin’s was given as a referee.
Two months later, the family were evicted for not paying the rent.
PRD Perez Real Estate’s Daniel Moddell, one of the few agents who secured a bond and three weeks’ rent on behalf of his client, said one of the issues facing Sarkin’s landlords is a backlog of cases before NCAT.
Hearing dates that once took a few weeks now take months, which means Sarkin has been able to live at some luxury houses for three months or more before being forced to pack up the family home, three kids and two poodles.
Moddell would know. Early last year, he rented the Sarkins a fully furnished house in Vaucluse with four bedrooms and ocean views for about $2600 a week. Sarkin’s children were enrolled at a nearby independent private school.
Moddell secured the bond and three weeks’ rent, but that was it. Sarkin then agreed to vacate the property in March, but didn’t.
According to Moddell, a warrant for possession was sought the following month.
By the time the sheriff turned up on May 1, the family of five had moved out, owing $23,400 in rent.
Meanwhile, the Sarkins had moved to a larger house with a pool next door.
NCAT documents lodged by the landlord claim the payment receipts were not genuine and that Sarkin “provided false information/references regarding his previous tenancy”.
Next stop was Bronte, where Sarkin signed a lease for a five-bedroom house in walking distance of the beach. The lease included a bond of $11,600 and monthly rent of $12,600, equating to about $3000 a week.
It wasn’t paid. The landlord told NCAT that she was told by Sarkin he had sent the more than $24,000, at which point he was given the keys. She’s still waiting for the money.
“This is having a huge financial impact on me, and I am unable to re-let the property until the tenant has vacated,” she said.
Despite Sarkin’s mounting debts, his taste in real estate only improved. Last August, the Sarkins moved to a newly built house with a pool in Rose Bay.
The NCAT record shows termination orders were sought almost a month later. “No rent has been received at all, despite numerous promises.”
Eviction orders were granted in late September, at which point the Sarkins moved to a five-bedroom house with a pool in Queens Park. Its advertised rent was $3700 a week.
In applying for eviction orders, the landlord described an increasingly familiar scenario: “The tenant has constantly been in arrears since the second week of occupation, [and] they have sent us payment receipts. However, the payments haven’t hit our accounts.”
More recently, Sarkin rented an architect-designed semi at Bondi Beach with a plunge pool. The lease was signed on April Fool’s Day for $3200 a week. Eviction orders were granted on May 19, by which time the Sarkins had left, owing $16,000 for five weeks’ rent.
NCAT disputes are limited to $15,000.
Back in New Zealand, Sarkin’s former landlord Tony Wallace hasn’t forgotten him.
For seven years, Sarkin rented a four-bedroom house in the family-friendly suburb of Glendowie, Auckland, for $1500 a week. “For the first four years everything was fine, but then things started to go to custard,” Wallace said.
At first, Sarkin’s rent repayments were just slow, but by the time he gave notice that he was moving to Australia, he owed about $8000 in rent, none of which has been paid back, according to Wallace.
“He’s a professional ratbag,” Wallace said. “I’m just surprised he has got away with not paying his rent so many times in Sydney.”
Wallace said that Sarkin is smart enough to know he should stick to the top-shelf real estate because if he went for something that he could afford he’d be put under more scrutiny by the agents.
Sarkin’s former business partner in New Zealand, Alex Bagley, also counts himself among Sarkin’s creditors.
The duo met when they worked for Deloitte, and in 2021 founded a business consultancy called DataXchange. Bagley said he was in charge of business development and customer relations, while Sarkin oversaw the financial management.
But three years later, Bagley said he discovered a tax debt of almost $NZ1 million for payroll taxes, accrued interest and penalties.
“That particular day was quite literally the worst of my life,” Bagley said. “It forced me to pivot and start again with a new business in the same data and AI governance space, and with a couple of former employees with me.”
In a financial restructure that followed, private creditor Revive Finance stepped in, and the company was placed into receivership over a $222,000 loan. Receivers were able to repay that loan in full, but soon after, the Auckland High Court forced DataXchange into liquidation given the $NZ945,000 owing to Inland Revenue.
Sarkin’s New Zealand consultancy Lynx Advisory Limited was dissolved early last year.
Since then, Bagley said, his attempts to recoup Sarkin’s share of the company debt have come to nil. Sarkin declared himself bankrupt in New Zealand last December, at which time he was living in Queens Park.
Sarkin, who is now consulting as a lead data adviser to data and AI risk advisory TrustWorks 360, relaunched his Lynx Advisory in Australia a year ago.
Sarkin’s lawyer declined to offer any further comment on Sarkin’s bankruptcy, tax debt and claims of owing money to his former landlord and business partner.
But in his brief chat with this masthead, Sarkin said he was no longer renting. “I’m Airbnb-ing now.”
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Lucy Macken is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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