Jason Lees pleaded guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court to multiple fraud charges

A man who hacked numerous businesses and diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars will be allowed to use the internet again – his alleged accomplice has denied her involvement.

Emily Walker and Jason Lees are seen outside the Adelaide Magistrates court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

A fraudster will be allowed to use the internet again, despite hacking numerous businesses and diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in a sophisticated cyber scam.

Jason Bran Lees, 34, pleaded guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday to multiple charges, including using computer access to facilitate commission of offence and using a computer to commit a prohibited act in other jurisdiction.
Despite the prosecution saying it believed Lees was at high risk of reoffending and there were “mule accounts” still undiscovered, Magistrate Simon Smart granted him permission to use the internet for work purposes.

Lees stole large amounts of personal data, including names, dates of birth and addresses from business staff all over Australia.

He set up the “mule accounts” for real people by using stolen personal identification documents, opening email addresses and providing delivery addresses

Jason Lees and Emily Walker have been committed to the District Court in June. Picture Facebook

Police allege a mobile phone linked to his alleged accomplice, Emily Jane Walker, 28, and hundreds of disposable SIM cards had been used to open the accounts.

Walker pleaded not guilty to the multiple charges in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday.

The couple, both of Seaton, was arrested last February, along with a man in Sydney.

Police have found at least 7000 of these documents, including Medicare cards and drivers’ licences.

The court previously heard Lees hacked payroll systems using a program that changed numbers and effectively diverted funds of hundreds of thousands of dollars into accounts they controlled.

The offending took place over a number of years, however, the court heard about 60 per cent of the known money stolen has now been recovered.

Lees is believed to have used sophisticated set-ups on heavily-encrypted virtual machines and used platforms such as Wickr to communicate.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, Andrew Ey, for Lees, asked to have Lees’ bail varied so he could use the internet for employment purposes.

“They (his employer) use smart phone applications for jobs and the like which requires access to the internet,” Mr Ey said.

A police prosecutor opposed the bail variation.

“The risk of reoffending we say is high – the difficulty with that is monitoring it once access is granted to the smart phone,” the police prosecutor said.

“While they (police) have done an enormous amount of work in finding that data, there is a whole lot of other material that they haven’t accessed.”

The police prosecutor said they were concerned about Lees having access to the internet “out of sight.”

“What they (police) tell me is that they have not accounted for all the money,” the police prosecutor said.

“There are mule accounts set up, and we don’t know that we have accessed or discovered all the new accounts – and there are crypto currency accounts.

“Police are concerned about the defendant’s access to what we say is tainted money.”

Mr Smart granted Lees’ bail variation and committed both defendants to the District Court in June.