Maria Carroll fronts court nearly $5m investment fraud

A 62-year-old former Melbourne conveyancer’s pyramid scheme sucked nearly $5m of clients’ hard-earned money — including one dying of cancer — before she dobbed herself in.

Investors lost millions of dollars under a pyramid scheme Maria Carroll ran that promised interest returns of 25 per cent.

A former Melbourne conveyancer helped herself to nearly $5m of her clients’ money — including one dying from cancer — by running a pyramid scheme over many years before dobbing herself in.

Maria Tracey Carroll’s business Maree Carroll and Associates duped clients over a seven-year period starting in 2013 until her lawyer contacted police in May 2020 to arrange an interview.

It preceded Carroll contacting her lawyer regarding the misappropriation of clients’ funds from her conveyancing business.

Carroll pleaded guilty in the County Court in May last year to 26 charges of theft of clients’ funds and a further 21 of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The 62-year-old is in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

Court documents show Carroll stole $4.6m from more than 45 clients, including her friends, on the pretext the funds would be invested with borrowers and protected by caveats registered against the borrowers’ real estate.

Maria Carroll’s deception left more than 45 people out of pocket, including one who lost his retirement savings and has since died.

She also pocketed money from property settlements and managed to repay just $118,835 of the nearly $5m misappropriated.

The highest single amount stolen was $577,380 that belonged to Patricia James and Katina Clayton for the purchase of a house in Wallen in March 2020.

Carroll did not complete the settlement and instead retained the amount for her personal use.

Mr James and Ms Clayton also lost $63,500 in deposit paid to the vendors as Carroll did not complete the settlement.

Her other victims who lost more than $500,000 were Elio De Carlo ($547,000),

Bruce and Gayle Praski ($532,443), and another victim ($540,000).

In his victim impact statement, Mr De Carlo’s son and the executor of his estate Paul De Carlo said Carroll took advantage of his father in the last years of his cancer-stricken life.

The now deceased Elio De Carlo was the director of Abbey Investments Pty Ltd and engaged Carroll to provide investment advice between 2013 and 2020.

Maria Carroll dobbed herself in after fleecing investors and property purchasers out of nearly $5m over many years.

Paul De Carlo said Carroll took away his father’s life savings through her despicable action, false friendship and fraud by falsely claiming she would invest his money with an interest return of 25 percent.

“You pushed your way into his personal life, your grooming of him was systematic over many years, resulting in my father believing each lie you told him as a friend,” Paul De Carlo said.

“I became suspicious and that’s why 18 months before his death, I personally organised lawyers to help him with his estate but this wasn’t enough to protect him with your lies.”

He said he has had to fork out more than $50,000 in medical and legal bills for his father as his estate was left with nothing because of Carroll’s offending.

For him personally, Paul De Carlo said he suffered anxiety and depressive episode after ongoing legal and financial effects took its toll, alongside breakdown of family dynamics.