Musgrave estate agent pleads guilty to misappropriation

Estate agent Anthony Brancatella has pleaded guilty to misappropriation.

The amount totalled almost $2 million across 62 breaches.

The former director of the McDonald Real Estate franchise in Mulgrave pleaded guilty to 62 charges relating to fraudulently converting money he obtained from property deals.

The Victorian County Court heard Mr Brancatella cashed cheques from trust accounts where sale deposits were held for vendors, putting the money back into the firm’s business account.

The Herald Sun reported he also misappropriated deposits by never placing them into the trust account, often using them to pay off renovations to his own house, staff wages, and debts owed to other clients.

Prosecutor Daniel Porceddu said Mr Brancatella had defrauded clients of a total of $1,999,920, of which $508,000 was repaid via claims to the Victorian Property Fund, and almost $400,000 was repaid by the Brancatella.

Several victim impact statements were read out during the plea hearing which continues.

The offences occurred between December 2011 and June 2014.

The Brancatella franchise company was placed into external administration in the wake of the CAV investigation.