George Plakas, a married father of three, has been jailed for embezzling almost $750,000 from his friends and associates from some of Australia’s biggest accountancy firms.
Judge Mark Taft told the court Plakas’ unwitting victims trusted the man who they thought was a caring mate and a “nice guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
Over four years, starting from November 2006, Plakas has promised his friends and colleagues financial rewards in return for dipping into their savings and assets. One woman, who lost about $40,000 to Plakas’ investment promises, wrote in victim’s impact statement about how she has lost her whole inheritance from her deceased parents.
“My parents were not wealthy people, and I’ve lost what they worked a lifetime to leave… I’ll remain forever guilty for this,” she wrote.
Plakas, 44, pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining property by deception, $185,000 from nine people, between January and August 2007. Police investigations are still underway into other offences, including identical charges involving five people and totalling $563,000.
Plakas was first charged in July 2008, where he was extradited from New Zealand but got off on bail. It was revealed that he had committed further offences while on bail. He will serve time in jail for five years and five months with a minimum of three years and nine months, less almost two years already served on remand.