Gambling trust fund agent jailed

A Surry Hills real estate agent has been jailed for dipping into trust funds containing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Patrick Scott was the sole director of CBD commercial Pty Ltd, trading as L J Hooker Surry Hills, when he used $813,936 held in the company's trust accounts to feed his gambling addiction. Evidence tendered to court included a SportingBet account statement showing Scott had bet sums as large as $77,000 in a single day. He sustained a net loss of $518,788 during a two-year-period. Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe said Scott had abused his position of trust by dipping into client accounts. Scott was sentenced last week to 16 months imprisonment with a 12 months non-parole period. He was also ordered to pay $746,841.95 to the NSW Property Services Compensation Fund.