A Wollongong real estate agent facing fraud charges amid allegations he misappropriated more than $480,000 using fake documents has had a bail conditioned softened with the consent of police.
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Hakan Kutup, formerly of Century 21 Ultimate Wollongong, has been charged with 27 offences relating to the alleged misappropriation of commission money police will claim he had not earned.
He is yet to formally enter a plea however when contacted by the Mercury in September when the charges were laid, Kutup said he would be fighting the allegations and did not wish to comment further.
Lake Illawarra detectives allege Kutup, 53, made false documents that claimed he had sold numerous properties and as a result would be entitled to the commission.
The false documents included photo-shopped emails and letterheads purported to be made from solicitors and conveyancers located in the Illawarra, police allege.
They also include fabricated contracts of sales, fabricated agency agreement documents, false signatures and false bank deposits, police allege.
The documents were allegedly submitted to Paidonexchange Pty Ltd - a business that, for a fee, provides real estate agents their entitled commissions from the property up front, removing the need for the real estate agent to wait up to 12 weeks for the settlement.
As a result Kutup "made a total financial advantage of $263,755", police say.
In August this year, Lake Illawarra detectives, with the assistance of the Office of Fair Trading, commenced an investigation into the actions of Kutup.
They allege they also uncovered that Kutup misappropriated funds from a Sale Trust Account to the amount of $220,515.
He met with Illawarra detectives on September 6 and was charged with 12 forgery offences, 12 fraud offences and three counts of fraudulent conversion of money.
In court on Tuesday, Kutup's lawyer, Matt Ward said police had agreed to a defence application to cut the number of days Kutup was required to report to police from three times a week to once a week.
He also confirmed the Director of Public Prosecutions had elected to prosecute the matter.
Magistrate Mark Douglass ordered police to begin serving the brief of evidence ahead of the next mention date on February 5.
