A former Wollongong lawyer who carried out a $2.1 million fraud scheme in which he embezzled money from the estates of dead clients has been struck off the roll.
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Former Maguire and McInerney employee, Nigel Ian Duncan, carried out the scam over a six-year period from 2011, which saw him misappropriate almost $758,000 from deceased estates.
He was sentenced at Wollongong District Court in 2019 to two years and nine months jail, with a non-parole period of two years after pleading guilty to two counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Duncan used the funds for home improvements, car leases, and to pay for his mother's nursing home bills.
The remaining funds - some $1.39 million - were made up of fraudulent financial transactions Duncan made to cover his tracks, which Judge Andrew Haesler described in sentencing as "robbing Peter to pay Paul".
"The offences ultimately became systematic and planned, obviously premeditated and of some sophistication," the judge said in 2019.
"Duncan's plan relied on his firm treating and trusting him as a senior and very experienced professional. They were entitled to do so."
Maguire and McInerney acted swiftly after receiving a complaint from a client, firing Duncan and taking out a loan to repay their clients in full.
An investigation identified more than 120 instances of misappropriation from 23 deceased's estates.
Duncan was arrested in December 2018 - three decades after he was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court.
Last November, the Council of the Law Society of NSW filed an application to rule Duncan as "not a fit and proper person" to remain on the Roll of Australian Lawyers.
The Supreme Court ruled in a decision this week that Duncan is not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll and is "likely to remain unfit to practice for the indefinite future".
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
