Stefano Hamisi jailed after family left broken after elderly mum scammed $1m

An 84-year-old Queensland woman was scammed of $1,000,000 during a property purchase — now the Ipswich man whose bank account the money happened to land in has fronted court to be sentenced for spending part of it.

An elderly Queensland woman was scammed out of $1,000,000 when she tried to make a settlement payment on a property, and the Ipswich man whose bank account the money just happened to land in has been jailed for withdrawing and spending $134,310 of the money.

Stefano Hamisi was jailed after a family was left broken when an elderly mum scammed $1m.

A court heard the woman’s conveyancer’s email was hacked and the online criminals discovered the woman was yet to make a $1,054,392 settlement payment.

Crown prosecutor Matthew Le Grand said the hackers sent an email to the 84-year-old asking for the money to be deposited and included the bank details of a then 21-year-old Ipswich man Stefano Hamisi.

The court heard Hamisi received the money in September 2019, and transferred a sum of money into another account of his.

He was caught on CCTV in Redbank Plains making a number of withdrawals in the four days after the money was transferred.

Crown prosecutor Le Grand said the now 24-year-old initially told bank investigators that he knew about the money being there and assumed it was Bitcoin profits sent from a Dubi investor.

While Hamisi’s lawyer Steve Kissick said it was “nonsense” that his client had made up - Hamisi had no idea how the money landed in his account.

Judge Anthony Rafter SC said it was problematic and nonsensical to accept that Hamisi had no idea how $1,000,000 landed in his account.

Stefano Hami

Mr Kissick said his client was not being dealt with in regards to the $1,000,000 hacking scandal and the case proceeded on the basis that Hamisi would plead guilty to one count of fraud over $100,000 and that the Crown would drop another fraud charge relating to the $1,000,000.

Mr Kissick also noted Hamisi was a prolific internet user and used his banking details across many platforms from a young age, including bitcoin and crypto currency sites.

Prosecutor Le Grand said the woman who was targeted was now in her 90s and the crime had had a significant impact on her and her family.

The court heard the bank was able to recover a large sum of the money although the woman was still out of pocket by $96,400.

At Ipswich District Court on Friday, April 29, Hamisi pleaded guilty to fraudulently and dishonestly obtaining over $100,000.

Judge Rafter SC said it was accepted Hamisi was not involved in the hacking and sentenced him to serve six months imprisonment of a two-year jail term.