Homer Simpson lawyer jailed for five years for first home owners rort

The Victorian Supreme Court has jailed a lawyer for five years for selling a home that wasn’t his to fictitious identities to repeatedly claim the first home owners grant.

Anthony Robert Coleman, 47, pleaded guilty to theft, having a deficiency in a trust account and 12 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception, Ninemsn reports.

When his client Eric Smith died in 2002 he pocketed $32,000 from the estate intended for charity and then sold Smith’s Brunswick West unit to the non-existent Pat Bateman, the name of the protagonist in American Psycho, played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film adaptation.

Coleman claimed the first home owners grant for Bateman. He then transferred the unit to a real client, Kaylene Nugent, without her knowledge.

He then transferred the unit to the fictitious Craig Young and then Max Power, a name used by Homer Simpson in in episode ‘Homer to the Max’.

In that episode, a television show called Police Cops also has a hero named Homer Simpson. Initially Homer is happy with coincidence until the character is changed from a hero to a bumbling idiot. After suffering taunts he changes his name to “Max Power”, gaining new friends.

Coleman finally sold the property to a genuine buyer for $214,000. He kept the money.

Coleman also avoided paying stamp duty on a Point Cook property after selling it to false identity Kylie Ann Moore.

A psychological report found Coleman admired some of his criminal clients for their lavish lifestyles and the attention they received from women, Ninemsn reports.

In total he earned $327,000 for his deceptions and was ordered to pay $309,000 in compensation to Smith’s estate.