EXCLUSIVE
A 63-year-old real estate agent and longtime Qantas engineer has been charged over an alleged hit-and-run crash that killed a young lawyer in Sydney.
Mitch East, 28, was found with serious head and chest injuries by a passerby on Fletcher Street in Tamarama, in the city’s east, shortly after 4am on Sunday.
The lawyer, a former Harvard Law School student, was allegedly dropped off by an Uber just moments before he was struck and left for dead.
The alleged driver, Zisi Kokotatsios – who was the managing director of First Impression Property Group – presented himself at Granville Police Station shortly after 11am on Friday.
The Bexley man was charged with four offenses including careless driving causing death, driving while using a mobile phone, failing to stop and assist a person and dangerous driving.
About four hours after the alleged accident, Kokotatsios posted a photo on social media of him and his partner at a shopping center.
Mitch East (pictured with his girlfriend, Natasha Dunsbee-Brown), 28, was found with serious head and chest injuries by a passerby in Fletcher Street, Tamarama, just after 4am on Sunday.
Four hours after the alleged accident, Zisi Kokotatsios posted a selfie of himself with his partner at a shopping center (pictured). The publication linked to a Google photo reader
Police have launched a search for the driver of a white Subaru Outback which was spotted on CCTV driving on Fletcher Street at the time of the crash.
The message linked to a Google photo reader, containing images dating back several years.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Kokotatsios has worked in many industries, from hospitality to engineering.
He worked as an engineer at Qantas between 1989 and 2014, but during this time he also ran his own business as a mortgage broker and sold monitoring systems for goods in transit.
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 a marketing director in 2017 for another company he appeared to own, before becoming a senior director of a real estate company in 2021.
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.
“I finished working with him over a year ago,” Mr. Kellerman said.
“Not doing business with him was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Zisi Kokotatsios (pictured) was a long-serving real estate agent and engineer with Qantas
Mitch East’s mother tells New Zealand media losing her only child was ‘unbearable’
Earlier this week, Mr East’s mother told media the loss of her only child was “unbearable”.
“He was my only child, my reason for living,” she told New Zealand newspaper Stuff.
“I died when he died. The pain is unbearable. So I just can’t think clearly to speak sorry.
She described her son as “a good person with a good heart.”
Mr East’s devastated family arrived in Sydney from his home country of New Zealand on Sunday to support his heartbroken girlfriend Natasha Dunsbee-Brown.
His mother, Ms Dunsbee-Brown, was seen outside the couple’s unit on Fletcher Street on Monday as grieving friends stopped to lay flowers.
Mr East studied law in his home country, securing notable positions as a senior advisor to the Royal Commission into the Christchurch Terrorist Attack and as a barrister with the major national law firm Meredith Connell.
Police officers are pictured processing the crime scene in Tamarama on Sunday following the alleged hit-and-run.
He moved to Australia around 2022 to work for his current employer, major company Arnold Bloch Leibler, which has an office in the Sydney CBD.
A spokesperson for Arnold Bloch Leibler told Daily Mail Australia that all staff were informed of the tragedy by email on Monday morning.
Following the alleged hit-and-run, police launched a search for the driver of a white Subaru Outback which was spotted in the area on CCTV around the same time as the crash.
At the time, NSW Police Inspector Jason Hogan urged the driver to come forward.
“It’s a cowardly act to leave after colliding with another human being,” he told 7News.
“They really need to go to their local police station before we knock on their door.”
Kokotatsios was refused bail to appear in Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday morning.