James Magiannis: Conveyance solicitor found guilty in absence of major Banksia client fraud

A former lawyer who took $445,000 from a client after they sold their home – using some of the cash to fund his personal gambling – has flown to Germany days before defending the charge.

James Magainnis at a previous court appearance. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A former conveyancing lawyer who defrauded $445,000 from a client following the sale of a house to pay a gambling debt has flown to Germany days before defending the charge in court, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest.

James Magiannis, 48, was set to defend the charge of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage at a hearing at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday yet did not appear, with the offence proven in his absence.

The court heard he had flown to Germany three days earlier to visit his ailing father and could not fly home due to his own respiratory illness.

A police statement of facts said Magiannis, who now lived in Queensland, was working at a Rozelle law firm when he acted as a conveyancer for the sale of a man’s Banksia house in 2018.

He prepared the contract prior to the first open house and it was later sold with the purchaser paying a five per cent deposit.

James Magainnis previously at Sutherland Local Court. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

The documents state Magiannis did not operate a trust bank account and directed clients to pay trust monies into his personal bank account. He then directed the San Souci real estate agency handling the sale of the Banksia property to pay the deposit of $52,850 to his own account.

Magiannis then transferred the majority of the stamp duty portion into another personal account, the documents state.

A day after settlement, Magiannis’ client was told a cheque amount for $155,214 was in his account but it never cleared, the documents say.

The client sent an email asking for a summary of the amount still needed to be deposited, to which Magiannis replied the remaining amount would be deposited the following week.

After further email exchanges, Magiannis told the client to contact the NSW Law Society to be reimbursed for the outstanding amount of $445,149 because his accounts had been frozen, according to the documents.

Police say Magiannis never deposited the amount owing to the client and that a NSW Law Society investigation revealed Magiannis gave instruction to the purchaser‘s solicitor to pay $392,299 to Revenue NSW for long-outstanding stamp duty monies unrelated to the client.

The court heard the remaining $6810 was deposited into Magiannis’ personal bank account to fund his gambling on Sportsbet, Tab and Ladbrokes.

The client reported the fraud to police and said he suffered “enormous stress” and was unable to purchase a new home.

In May 2019, the victim was compensated the total amount plus interest from the NSW Law Society.

In court, Magistrate Holly Kemp refused the adjournment application noting Magiannis’ doctor’s certificate was in German and there was no indication of when he would return to Australia.

She found the offence proven.