Sydney mum charged with allegedly fleecing victims of $29m

She allegedly boasted about being the daughter of a wealthy Sri Lankan businessman and promised to make those who invested with her rich. But police allege the woman instead fleeced them of $29 million.

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After allegedly convincing people she was the daughter of one of the richest men in Sri Lanka, police claim a Sydney mother of three fleeced them of $29 million.

The woman, who cannot legally be named because she is facing multiple prosecutions, allegedly claimed she was the daughter of businessman Dhammika Perera, whose net worth is about $550 million.

Police allege she even went to the trouble of creating fake photographs of herself with Mr Perera to send to potential investors. They also allege she opened 140 separate bank accounts to run a Ponzi scheme, an arrangement where money was borrowed from one victim to pay another.

Many handed money over to the woman who promised a big return from her investment company that was known as “Grand Super Rich”.

The woman was arrested by police and later charged with a raft of offences including dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception.

Police allege the woman kept up her investors’ hopes by projecting an image of success. She posted photos of herself to social media living it up on first class flights. Others featured the woman posing with luxury designer goods or large piles of cash.

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Unfortunately for the investors, police allege it was their cash, which the woman had stolen and used to fund her jetsetting lifestyle.

The woman allegedly sold herself as a successful money remitter, a process where her business would take Australian dollars from clients then paying them in foreign currencies. Basically they were gambling on currencies being more valuable in the future.

A Gucci handbag allegedly seized by police.

Officers allegedly seized several designer handbags, including a number of Chanel and Prada items.

One alleged victim said she was sent a Facebook friend request by the woman and a separate private message explaining the scheme.

After sending the message, the woman allegedly apologised for sending it by mistake but then talked the alleged victim into investing more than $4 million

Police allege the woman told the investor she received attractive rates from major banks like Citigroup, May Bank and HSBC and claimed to be buying currency in bulk in $5 million lots.

To add a sweetener, she allegedly claimed to be the daughter of Mr Perera, whom she said was the chairman of Citibank, despite the fact that he has never held that role.

A Prada handbag seized by police.

Officers also allegedly seized 15 pairs of high-end women’s shoes including brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

The alleged victim handed over more than $4 million to woman between 2016 and 2018. She was one of a number of alleged victims who gave the woman $10 million over the period.

When the alleged victim asked for the money back, police say the woman made up excuses as to why she could not.

This included one story that it was the king’s birthday in one South East Asian nation, meaning that it was a banking holiday.

Police believe there are more victims and the actual amount stolen is as high as $29 million.

Police allege the woman recruited a number of victims and spoke to them on a WhatsApp group where she posted pictures including large stacks of cash, images of her flying first class and purchasing high-end goods.

She also allegedly falsely claimed to the group that she had bought several Sydney properties and posted images of her bank balance, which was flush with funds.

The woman allegedly targeted the Thai-Australian community.

Police allege the money in the photos was actually stolen from her investors and totalled about $1.2 million.

To avoid detection, police allege the woman opened about 140 bank accounts under different company names and shifted the money between the accounts.

After a period, the banks noticed the transfer patterns but allowed her to withdraw the money before closing the accounts, police said.

Meanwhile the woman, who has three children aged under 10 to three different fathers, lived in a $550-a-week rental property in Western Sydney.

That is where police Financial Crimes Squad detectives arrested her on February 21.

The woman was already on bail for other fraud charges. Despite being ordered to surrender her passport to meet bail conditions, she allegedly tricked an overseas consulate to issue another, which she used to open further bank accounts.

At one point while on bail, the court allowed her to travel overseas to attend her father’s funeral and she allegedly used the flight to take $200,000 of her victims’ money plus diamonds and other jewellery overseas.

The woman is facing three counts of dishonestly obtaining financial benefit and was due to face Burwood Local Court on Friday.

Originally published as Sydney mum charged with allegedly fleecing victims of $29m