A REAL estate agent who duped an elderly man into selling his property to him for half its value has been jailed for two years.
John Michael Talia, 53, of Melbourne, (pictured above) was found guilty earlier this month of obtaining property by deception.
The Victorian County Court heard that in 2001, Talia bought a Burwood East home belonging to Antonino Carbone for $150,000, but it was later independently valued at $300,000.
Mr Carbone was in his 80s and in a nursing home at the time and his friend Stella Garretto was acting on his behalf when she sought advice from Ray White Real Estate in Doncaster East.
Talia's wife, rental consultant Sue Talia, told Ms Garretto her husband might be interested in buying the home as an investment property.
Judge Michael Bourke said Talia instructed a long-term associate to issue an appraisal valuing the house at $135,000 to $155,000 without viewing the property.
The judge said Talia, from Doncaster East, was motivated by breathtaking greed and his behaviour was outrageously immoral.
"You cheated two vulnerable people of the large part of the real value of an elderly man's home," he said.
Talia was sentenced to a total of three years in jail with 12 months suspended for a period of three years.
2 comments:
Disgusting, and the 'appraiser' or other associate should be in prison as well and they both should be paying him back asap!! Slimebags like this give my profession a bad name!
I believe this case needs more information. For one the contract should estate that the seller is representing himself and should find someone to represent him. If the seller choose to not do it because he wanted all the money instead of paying a buyer agent his fee then I believe is the seller fault too. Now like I said I don't know the hold story. But, if this was not disclosed to seller then I believe that the realtor and the appraisal are at fault.
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