Two Latvian nationals admit defrauding $175,000 in online shopping scam

A LATVIAN couple scammed 198 people into paying almost $176,000 for barbecues, boat motors and exercise equipment they never received, a Brisbane court has heard.

Aleksandrs Gorikijis and Anastasia Sveinika have pleaded guilty to two counts each of fraud.

A LATVIAN couple scammed 198 people into paying almost $176,000 for barbecues, boat motors and exercise equipment they never received, in an “elaborate fraud”.

Aleksandrs Gorkijs and Anastasija Sveinika were involved in the fraud within days of arriving in Australia, opening multiple bank accounts and registering business names.

Brisbane District Court heard 198 people purchased outdoor exercise equipment, barbecues and boat motors via online websites over almost two months.

They paid amounts ranging from $45 to $5240, with the money defrauded totalling $175,996.

Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso said customers were offered discounts if they paid by direct debit.

Money was transferred into accounts Gorkijis and Sveinika had opened in their own names while living in Norman Park in Brisbane.

They had come to Australia on three-month visitor visas they both had overstayed and Gorkijis had worked as a chef at Southbank in Brisbane, the court heard.

Ms Kelso said the Crown alleged the pair were aware of the fraudulent scheme before they arrived, registering businesses and opening accounts within six days of arrival.

They withdrew money they obtained from the fraud from ATMs, but Federal Police could not say what then happened to it.

When arrested the couple were found with $5850 in cash in their unit.

“This was a fairly elaborate fraudulent scheme,” Judge Anthony Rafter said.

The pair had opened 14 different bank accounts, in four banks in Brisbane and between them made 77 withdrawals.

Judge Rafter said it was unclear who had created the websites.

While he did not think Gorkijs, 28, and Sveinika, 26, were the architects of the fraud, they played an integral role.

The couple claimed they only got involved in the fraud after meeting a man named Oleg in a Brisbane nightclub.

Judge Rafter did not accept that, concluding they both knew of the scheme before arriving in Australia.

There was no doubt others had profited from the scheme, but the couple had withdrawn large amounts of money from ATMs, he said.

After they pleaded guilty to fraud, Judge Rafter sentenced them both to four years in jail, suspended after 16 months and declared 451 spent in custody as time served.

The court was told they would be taken into Immigration detention and were expected to be deported after their jail terms were suspended in a month’s time.