In 1955, he moved with his father to Sydney, where he worked as an apprentice in a Sydenham metal factory, completing a diploma course in electroplating.
[1] After completing studies, he commenced work at the Sydney Hospital in 1969, and in 1978 took up private practice with rooms in Woolloomooloo.
His patients included high-flyers such as former NSW Supreme Court chief justice Laurence Street, media tycoon Kerry Packer and broadcaster John Laws.
Paltos fathered two children and lived in a two-storey home, Gwandalan, in one of Sydney's most expensive suburbs, Bellevue Hill.
[3][4] In 1990, Paltos was convicted on charges of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, along with police detective Roger Rogerson, for using bank accounts under false names to hide improperly gotten money.