David Imrie departs McGrath Estate Agency after pleading guilty to stealing from Keep Australia Beautiful

McGrath Estate Agents has terminated the employment of David Imrie, a high profile sales agent operating from its Newtown office.

It came after he pleaded guilty to offences incurred in his previous employment, as Keep Australia Beautiful NSW chief executive.

The Daily Telegraph reported Imrie processed dodgy payments for himself from February 2015 to December 2016 at KAB.

Imrie used the charity’s money to pay off personal debts, book a seaside resort in Thailand, buy $47,700 of shares in racehorses and spend $1056 on a meal at Tetsuya’s, a top Sydney restaurant.

Imrie was arrested last August and recently pleaded guilty to 17 fraud charges in the NSW Local Court.

Magistrate Suzanne Seagrave found Imrie had betrayed the trust placed in him by the charity and sentenced him to 18 months in jail, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 months. He was ordered to compensate the charity by $89,829.

David Hastings Imrie, 49, launched an appeal against the severity of the sentence in the NSW District Court last Thursday.

An agreed statement of facts obtained by the News Corp newspaper, The Inner West Courier detailed how Imrie used cheques, transfers and credit card payments to swindle the organisation.

His last property sale was July 1 at $970,000 in Eskineville.

His sales record suggests he sold nine inner west properties since he rejoined the McGrath agency last May.

Following the decision by the court, his employment was immediately terminated, with Imrie no longer associated with the estate agency. 

“McGrath is committed to its high professional standards and code of conduct and as such, have acted appropriately and swiftly in this matter," Kon Stathopoulos, head of sales for McGrath’s company owned offices said.

"McGrath has provided access to the company’s employee assistance program and counselling support throughout," he noted.

Magistrate Seagrave noted the guilty pleas entered by Imrie and he had no past criminal convictions.

Imrie’s appeal returns to the court in September.

Police submitted that Imrie “made no effort to reimburse” Keep Australia Beautiful NSW, which relies on donations and grants for its conservation efforts.