Daniel Walker: Gambling and drug-addicted former Colliers executive jailed over $720k fraud
A top former Sydney real estate executive knew his illicit scheme would be discovered when he milked his employer’s trust account to fund his dual addictions, a court has heard.
Manly
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Serious gambling and drug addictions were behind a top former Sydney real estate executive’s “guileful” decision to fleece his firm of more than $720,000, a court has heard.
Daniel Roy Walker, 37, was sentenced in Manly Local Court on Thursday to two years in jail after he pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Magistrate Lisa Stapleton imposed a non-parole period of 18 months.
Walker was a leasing manager at Colliers International’s North Sydney office when he milked the company’s trust account to fuel his addictions.
The court heard the Surry Hills resident had breached his position of trust as a senior employee by stealing from the business on eight occasions, taking amounts that ranged $10,000 to $357,808 and diverting them to seven bank accounts he had opened.
Across a period of five months, starting in November 2022, he swindled a total of $720,811.84 in what Ms Stapleton described as “planned and systematic dishonesty”.
The court heard Walker had been on a salary of $346,000 at the time of his crime.
He was also gambling with online betting agencies and using methamphetamine — colloquially known as “ice” — sometimes daily.
The court heard the trust account in question had been used to store holding deposits paid by clients who were waiting to finalise leases on prime office space managed by Colliers.
When the lease was signed, the deposit was supposed to be returned to the clients.
But Walker was arrested in May 2023 after an internal investigation found money was instead being transferred from the Colliers trust account into his personal bank accounts.
Court documents show he took some of the individual amounts after sending emails to a supervisor at Colliers, asking for lease deposits to be released from the trust account and providing his personal bank details.
His supervisors then “inadvertently approved” the release of the money.
Walker’s lawyer urged Ms Stapleton not to jail his client but acknowledged Walker had obtained a “quite significant” amount of money.
“We don’t shy away from the fact that $720,000 is a lot of money,” he said.
“The motive was to feed his gambling and drug addictions.”
The court heard Walker used the money to place bets with online gambling outlets.
The solicitor also said the scheme was “not very sophisticated” and his client knew his offending would be discovered.
“He committed fraud by creating false documents,” the lawyer told the court.
“It was almost a suicide mission … knowing it would come out.”
Police prosecutor Louis Parfait asked Ms Stapleton to jail Walker.
Sgt Parfait said a term of imprisonment would send a message that “a person cannot defraud their employer of hundreds of thousands of dollars”.
“The defendant abused a position of trust,” Sgt Parfait said.
Ms Stapleton said Walker had “used his knowledge to perpetrate fraud”.
“This offender’s dishonesty meant the money was sent to his own bank accounts.
“This is guileful. It was planned and systematic dishonesty.”
Walker will become eligible for release in May 2026.
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