For more than three years, a Greek Sydney lawyer, James Dimitrious, was using his clients money for personal purposes. He had convinced his clients that their capital was safe in his personal account but it wasn’t. It was proved that Dimitrious had defrauded 1.9 million dollars which he used to pay his debts and loans.
His clients were transferring money for property deposits, settlements and stamp duty into his account. In case a client wanted to know where their money was, Dimitrious would use money from another client to repay them.
The 50-year-old solicitor is guilty of 16 cases of fraud. Last February, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment without parole, but was granted bail after an appeal against his sentence. He will remain on bail until the appeal is heard in March.
According to the magistrate Beverley Schurr, “Only a full-time custodial sentence is appropriate in a case where a professional entrusted with clients’ money has defrauded them of that money.”
However, Christopher Gates, one of Dimitrious’ clients and former friend, has a different opinion, claiming that the lawyer doesn’t deserve imprisonment. “I don’t think he deserves jail time. He has had enough done to his career and his personal life and I don’t think jail is where he’ll learn how to move on,” he said.
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