Tamarama hit-and-run: Property guru Zisi Kokotatsios faces charges after death of Sydney lawyer Mitch East – as chilling post emerges hours later
- Police have charged a 63-year-old man in connection with his fatal hit-and-run death
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A 63-year-old real estate agent and veteran Qantas engineer has been charged over an alleged crash that killed a young lawyer in Sydney.
Mitch East, 28, was found by a passer-by with serious head and chest injuries on Fletcher Street in Tamarama, in the city’s east, just after 4am on Sunday.
The lawyer, a former Harvard Law School student, was reportedly dropped off by an Uber moments before he was allegedly beaten.
Following extensive police investigation, Zisi Kokotatsios – the director of First Impression Property Group – handed himself in at Granville police station just after 11am on Friday.
He was charged with four offences, including negligent driving causing death and driving while using a telephone.
About four hours after the alleged crash, Kokotatsios posted a photo on social media of himself and his partner at a shopping center.
Following his arrest on Friday, his former colleague Marcel Kellerman told Daily Mail Australia their professional relationship ended a year ago, and he couldn’t be happier.
Mitch East (pictured), 28, was found with serious head and chest injuries by a passer-by on Fletcher Street, Tamarama, just after 4am on Sunday
Four hours after the alleged crash, Zisi Kokotatsios posted a selfie of himself with his partner in a shopping center (photo)
Police were searching for the driver of a white Subaru Outback seen on CCTV driving along Fletcher Street around the time of the crash.
“I ended working with him over a year ago,” Mr. Kellerman said.
“Not doing business with him anymore is the best thing that happened to me.”
His charges include negligent driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, failure to stop and render assistance after a vehicle collision causing death, and driving with a cell phone.
Kokotatsios was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday morning.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Kokotatsios has worked in various sectors, from hospitality to technology.
He worked as a Qantas engineer between 1989 and 2014, but appeared to be running his own business during that time.
Zisi Kokotatsios (pictured) was a real estate agent and long-time Qantas engineer
In 2001, he owned a company that sold monitoring systems for transit goods, before switching to a mortgage broker until 2006.
After leaving Qantas, he became the owner of a coffee and tea distribution company, Gourmet Coffee King, before entering the travel industry in 2016 as an ‘innovator’ for Innovators Travel Network.
Kokotatsios then became marketing director for another company he appeared to own in 2017, before becoming senior director of a real estate company in 2021.
Following the alleged collision, police were searching for the driver of a white Subaru Outback, who was seen on CCTV in the area around the same time as the crash.
At the time, NSW Police Inspector Jason Hogan urged the driver to come forward.
“It is a cowardly act to drive away after colliding with another human being,” he told 7News.
“They really need to go to the local police station before we knock on their door.”
Officers are processing the crime scene in Tamarama on Sunday following the alleged collision