Fraud ex Savoy Real Estate agent Hayley Philpot pleads guilty to stealing $98k from elderly victim

A devious estate agent stole $100,000 from an elderly victim which she splurged on lavish shopping including hairstyling, high-end fashion and Nando’s.

Hayley Philpot pleaded guilty to stealing $98,000 from an elderly retiree. Picture: Facebook.

A former Melbourne estate agent left her elderly victim unable to make ends meet after stealing almost $100,000 to fund a rampant shopping spree.

Hayley Philpot, 29, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week to a three-month jail term after pleading guilty to theft.

Philpot worked as an agent at Savoy Real Estate Yarra Glen when she zeroed in on her 80-year-old victim in 2019.

The court heard Philpot helped sell the victim’s Yarra Glen home and then assisted in relocating the victim and her husband to a nursing home.

Philpot, who was made a power of attorney for the victim, misused her position to siphon the victim’s cash into her own accounts.

Philpot rinsed $98,844 from her victim via 98 transactions between May 2020 and August 2021.

Philpot spent big at hair and beauty salons. Picture: Facebook.

Philpot blew her victim’s much-needed cash on various gratuitous purchases, including an Apple iPhone and a MacBook.

Philpot also spent big at various hair and beauty salons and boutiques, high-end Zara fashion stores, JB Hi-Fi, Kmart, Bunnings and Kookai and burned dough on Uber rides, Deliveroo orders and Nando’s meals.

The shameless fraudster also splurged on car repairs, pet accessories, various cafes and restaurants, eBay purchases, bottle shops and movie tickets.

Philpot, of Flemington, also transferred more than $50,000 to another account in her name.

Philpot’s skulduggery came unstuck after the victim engaged a lawyer to find out how her money had vanished.

Police arrested Philpot in February 2022 but the crooked agent made “no admissions” to the theft racket.

The court heard Philpot, a mother, claimed she took money because her brother needed $40,000 to pay off a “bikie gang debt”.

Philpot, who grew up in Wagga Wagga, is also 34 weeks pregnant, the court was told.

Philpot has worked at various Melbourne real estate outfits. Picture: Facebook.

The prosecution called for Philpot to be jailed.

“This is the most egregious breach of the (power of attorney) provision,” the prosecution submitted.

“This involved an 80-year-old woman who had no family support and who herself was supporting an elderly husband with dementia …

“ (Philpot) would’ve been aware of the duty of trust … (Philpot) deliberately obtained without conscience and exploited the vulnerability of the victim to steal her much needed funds at the time … as most needed for (victim) and her husband at the twilight of their life …

“Trust was a critical element … the victim, she will not financially recover from this … our community needs to be able to trust our system of attorneys.”

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Magistrate David Starvaggi said Philpot’s offending “demonstrated one of the most severe examples of a breach of trust”.

“There needs to be complete denunciation of the offending and the only way that can be expressed is with a term of imprisonment,” Magistrate Starvaggi said.

Philpot was convicted and ordered to repay more than $60,000 still outstanding.