Jail for guilty Brisbane estate agent
Estate agent James Lyons has been sentenced to six years jail, with a possibility of parole after two years, after he pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of $1.6 million.
The Brisbane real estate agent pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to three fraud-related charges.
The charges relate to nine complaints over a two-year period.
Judge Brad Farr set a parole eligibility date of August 23, 2018.
Lyons was on a base salary of $800,000 but would earn as much as $2 million a year on commissions as a commercial real estate agent.
Lyons was a finalist as “commercial salesperson of the year” at the Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s 2009 industry awards after broking multimillion-dollar deals around the Brisbane port.
He was bailed in late 2013 after being charged by detectives from Mt Gravatt CIB on seven counts of fraud allegedly committed at Chase Commercial’s Newstead office.
The fraud-related charges related to nine victims from his time working for Chase Commercial between 2011-13.
The Crown prosecutor Jane Shaw told Judge Brad Farr that more than $1.05 million had been paid to the victims out of a compensation fund. Lyons had not made any repayments.
His legal-aid barrister, Saul Holt advised he was a diagnosed pathological gambler.
