SA scammer Raymond Pinnington pleads guilty to faking identity documents to deceive Centrelink

A notorious scammer has pleaded guilty to a slew of charges for targeting elderly ladies with a ‘good Samaritan’ ruse and pinching our taxpayer cash by deceiving Centrelink.

A man who targeted old ladies with a ‘good Samaritan’ scam – stealing their handbags after changing their tyres – has now confessed to falsifying claims he was a Queensland flood survivor, and a carer for his elderly grandfather.

Raymond Pinnington, 42, sat quietly as he appeared in the South Australian District Court via video link from prison last week, when he heard the extent of the pain he had caused another lady he tricked with his roadside scheme.

Pinnington pleaded guilty to twelve state counts of theft, relating to offending between June 9 and June 11, 2019, and a further six Commonwealth charges relating to false Centrelink claims across a five-year period.

The state prosecutor told the court that Pinnington had returned to the community and continued identical offending after he was arrested.

“He would essentially offer to assist a person changing their tyre, would then steal their handbag from their vehicle and then go on to use their cards in various retail places,” she said.

She said for this lot of offending, Pinnington transferred himself $47,680 from the victim’s bank account into his own, as well as using her credit and debit cards in stores.

“The money from the complainant’s bank account, which was transferred into the defendant’s bank account, was returned to the victim, but the jewellery has not been recovered.”

Raymond Pinnington pleaded guilty to six counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Geraghty

A Commonwealth prosecutor told the court Pinnington also pleaded guilty to six counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception after deliberately falsifying applications for benefits from Centrelink.

“Essentially, over a five-year period between November 2017 and April 2022, he submitted numerous false claims to Centrelink, both in his own name and in the name of an alias Robert Pennington,” the Commonwealth prosecutor said.

She said he applied for rent assistance and a carer’s payment in relation to his grandfather – who was actually in the care of Pinnington’s aunt.

He further claimed a bereavement payment after notifying Centrelink his grandfather had died, before going on to claim two disaster relief payments after pretending he was a Queensland resident affected by floods.

He finally applied, under his alias name, for Covid relief payment after stating he’d contracted the virus and being unable to work.

“It involved premeditation because as part of those claims, he falsified identity documentation,” she said.

Pinnington’s lawyer told the court his client had a drug habit, and was offending to fund his addiction to methamphetamine.

“He engaged in dishonesty, thefts et cetera to fund his use of methamphetamine and also, at that time, he found he was gambling quite heavily as well,” his lawyer said.

He told the court Pinnington had been making changes in custody, and had effectively completed recovery and rehabilitation courses.

Pinnington will be sentenced in November.