Ionut Adrian Serbanoiu pleads guilty to $43k bank fraud

A father has been sentenced to jail for a sneaky move that defrauded a bank of $43,000.

An Eagleby dad has been jailed after police finally put a stop to his five-year string of crimes, a court has heard.

Ionut Adrian Serbanoiu, 41, pleaded guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday to a string of charges including one count of fraud dating back to February, 2017.

The court heard Serbanoiu had an extensive criminal history spanning two decades.

He fronted Brisbane Magistrates Court in November last year, where he was sentenced to 12 months’ jail with immediate parole.

However, Magistrate Mark Howden said the offences Serbanoiu pleaded guilty to this week were not dealt with at that time.

Ionut Serbanoiu pleaded guilty to a string of serious charges in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Source: Facebook/Ionut Serbanoiu.

They included the 2017 fraud, where Serbanoiu forged a document in order to obtain a personal loan of $43,000 from Brisbane City’s Westpac Bank branch.

Serbanoiu, who shares custody of an 11-year-old daughter with his ex-wife, was also charged with one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle, one count of driving without a licence and one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Magistrate Mark Howden said on November 5, 2020, Serbanoiu drove dangerously in a stolen Volkswagen Golf, narrowly missing a car on the other side of the road.

He later crashed and fled on foot.

More drug and traffic offences followed, including one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle on September 20, 2021.

Three months later, he was charged with stealing after a fuel drive-off at a Macgregor petrol station.

Mr Howden said there were further drug charges in December.

On January 8 this year Serbanoiu drove to a secure basement at a Bowen Hills address where three people in his car stole items worth a total of $2076.

Mr Howden said the matters were made more serious because Serbanoiu was on parole following his earlier court appearance.

Serbanoiu’s lawyer said her client struggled with drug addiction from a very young age, adding his life really spiralled after his marriage breakdown.

Mr Howden ordered Serbanoiu serve a head sentence of 18 months jail for the enter premises offence. He was also sentenced to a concurrent term of 12 months jail for the fraud.

He will be eligible for parole on June 5.

With regards to the driving offences, he was given a head sentence comprising of a two-year disqualification for driving without a licence.

“In my view, the only real sentence that can be imposed in your case are terms of imprisonment given the serious nature of the offending behaviour and your significant criminal history,” Mr Howden said.