Justin Scavo fronts court over fraudulent use of trust money

A former Melbourne real estate agent stole money from hopeful homeowners’ trust accounts to blow on his gambling addiction.

Justin Scavo raided $185k from the trust accounts of prospective home buyers while he served as the director of South Morang’s Revolve Real Estate.

A Melbourne real estate agent stole money from the trust accounts of hopeful homeowners and used part of the $185,000 he pocketed to fund his gambling and batting interests.

Justin Scavo, 40, of Mill Park, pleaded guilty in the County Court in April to 11 charges of deficiency in a trust account and one of wrongful conversion of trust accounts.

He appeared for a plea hearing on Monday and was remanded on bail for sentencing next week.

He raided $185,320 from the trust accounts of prospective home buyers while he served as the director of South Morang’s Revolve Real Estate, from April 2018 to August 2019.

The money was paid by his clients who bought property in Doreen, Thomastown and Kinglake through Revolve Real Estate but never had their deposits paid.

Prosecutor Ruth Hamnett said inspectors from Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) conducted inspection of the company’s business premises and records on four occasions in 2019.

Former real estate agent Justin Scavo, of Mill Park, faces a nervous wait as he awaits sentencing for dipping into trust accounts.

In October 2019, two bank accounts were frozen and a statutory manager was appointed. The balance of the trust account, upon freezing, was $6505.

Of the $185,320 in home deposits, Ms Hamnett said Scavo diverted $96,305 into two of his personal accounts and later into other accounts.

“Some funds were applied to business related expenses however, several others were for food purchases and TAB and Digi Markets Malta.”

Between April and May 2018, he made 64 payments totalling $4878 to Digi Markets Malta and there were 28 payments to TAB, valued at $1378.

The Victorian Property Fund paid out $96,305 to those affected by Scavo’s offending.

Scavo’s lawyer Codey Larkin said an exceptional circumstance could be made in that his client was caring for his elderly mother and that his mental health would render his time in prison difficult.

Due to a lack of business acumen, he said Scavo focused on selling land and neglected other parts of his business which led to his demise.

He said Scavo ran into significant financial problems in 2017, started dipping into his own funds, and began using methamphetamine almost daily because of the financial stress.

“He’s extremely nervous of going to jail and he hasn’t slept for a few days,” Mr Larkin said.

Scavo has been blocked from all gambling sites in Australia, he said.