A Melbourne man has been sentenced to seven years’ jail with a minimum of 4.5 years, after he duped an elderly builder out of $4.92 million over an eight-year period, starting in 2003.
Tom Poursanidis, 52, was found to have “preyed” on Paul Knight, a trusting builder, and gained from his “goodwill to fleece all of his hard-won assets”, according to County Court Judge Irene Lawson.
Prosecutor Damien Hannan told the court Poursanidis had offered to pay half of Knights’ costs and repairs to purchase and trade second-hand vehicles, which was agreed to but based on fake documentation.
Fearing he would lose all of the money he had invested into the business venture, by 2009 Knight was borrowing money but unable to pay off his debts.
Poursanidis’ barrister argued a lesser sentence was warranted due to his client’s parents’ deteriorating health – including probable terminal cancer faced by his father – but the court felt otherwise.
Judge Lawson stated that the monies defrauded from Knight were from life savings accumulated from 1961 and noted that the hardship on Poursanidis’ parents did not warrant exceptional circumstances to have his sentence downgraded.
The judge concluded by saying Poursanidis’ three sisters would now have to share the load in caring for their parents.