The case of a former high-profile Ballarat real estate agent who embezzled hundreds of thousands in trust fund money has resolved in a plea.
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Richard Hayden, 56, the operator of now-defunct Ballarat family business Hayden Real Estate, pleaded guilty to one charge of wrongful conversion and two counts of deficiency in a trust account.
Hayden will now appear at the Melbourne County Court on June 16 for sentencing.
The offending covered a period from January 2018 to January 2019, whereby Hayden caused a deficiency of $485,749 of trust money in a Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Statutory Trust Account.
On or around March 12, 2019, Hayden caused a further deficiency of $962,433.05 - to a total of $1,448,182.05 in trust fund money.
As director and officer in effective control of Skyline Developments Pty Ltd, Hayden also wrongfully converted more than $770,000 of trust account money to his own use.
Hayden was formerly the head of one of Ballarat's oldest real estate agencies, founded by Basil Hayden in 1928.
Richard and his wife Lisa Hayden were co-owners of the agency.
Lisa Hayden, a philanthropist, writer and passionate cancer campaigner passed away in 2019 after a long battle with breast cancer.
