Lawyers put closing submissions in fraud trial of top Darwin real estate agent Chris Deutrom

TOP REAL estate agent Chris Deutrom thought he was serving the ‘greater good’ of the Elders agencies he was managing when he allegedly directed about $230,000 of company money into his own accounts, the Supreme Court has heard

Former Elders real estate agent Chris Deutrom enters the NT Supreme Court with his wife, Helen

TOP REAL estate agent Chris Deutrom thought he was serving the “greater good” of the Elders agencies he was managing when he allegedly directed about $230,000 of company money into his own accounts, the Supreme Court has heard.

In his closing address to the jury, Mr Deutrom’s barrister Jon Tippett QC said the prosecution of Mr Deutrom was a “civil case gone rogue”, in which Elders had colluded with prosecutors to avoid paying out up to $1 million Mr Deutrom believes he is owed.

Mr Tippett said of the Crown case: “Everything fits very nicely.”

But he said Mr Deutrom genuinely believed he was acting in the company’s best interest at the time he transferred advertising rebates owed to Elders by the NT News and realestate.com.au into accounts he controlled.

“Elders was Mr Deutrom and Mr Deutrom was Elders,” Mr Tippett said.

“He lived through the business and the business lived through him, and in doing that he did things for the business and in relation to the business that he believed were right and he believed served the business for the greater good.”

He said Mr Deutrom had “laid himself bare” in the witness box and showed that “he is a genuine person and he’s genuinely not guilty”.

Mr Tippett said Mr Deutrom was a man “of outstanding character” who had lied in emails to his bosses only to “save himself”.

“God, wouldn’t you?” Mr Tippett said.

Earlier, Crown Prosecutor David Morters SC told the jury Mr Deutrom had “lied to you, has lied to his employers and has lied to many others in relation to these rebates he has received into his personal accounts”.

He said the case would turn on whether Mr Deutrom knew he was acting deceptively when he asked representatives of the NT News and realestate.com.au to direct payments he wasn’t entitled to into his bank accounts.

Mr Morters said: “If you own BHP shares, that doesn’t entitle you to go down to the local steel shop that they might own and grab a handful of steel.”

He said Mr Deutrom had lied in court because he was “a desperate man and doesn’t want to be made accountable for what he has done”.

“There’s no dispute that the accused did a good job … no doubt whatsoever, but that’s not relevant to a determination that he acted criminally when he redirected these funds,” Mr Morters said.

He said the jury could interpret Mr Deutrom’s aggression towards whistleblower, Matthew Pullman, as a sign Mr Deutrom knew his conduct was wrong at the time.

“If the accused had done nothing wrong, why did he behave that way to Matthew Pullman?” he said.

Justice Jenny Blokland is expected to deliver her instructions to the jury on Tuesday morning before sending them out to deliberate.