Christian Nassar refused bail over alleged $4.5 million luxury car fraud

A man has faced court today charged with more than 200 offences related to an alleged $4.5 million luxury car syndicate. 18 cars including a Mercedes Benz, Range Rover and Audi RS6 have been seized.

A man has faced court today charged with more than 200 offences relating to an alleged luxury car fraud syndicate.

34-year-old Christian Nassar was arrested last Friday, becoming the fifth person charged over the syndicate that allegedly bought vehicles with fraudulent financial applications before selling them at a higher price in NSW and interstate.

He was charged with multiple offences, including six counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception and seven counts of publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage.

He appeared at Central Local Court via video link and was refused bail.

Police have seized 18 cars as part of Strike Force Jib, including several Mercedes Benz, Range Rovers, an Audi RS6, a GTS Holden Commodore, a Ford Ranger, and a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Christian Nassar. Picture: NSW Police

Nassar’s co-accused and alleged bikie Shane Ross.

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The value of the cars involved is more than $4.5 million.

The charges come after police tried several times to arrest the Greenacre man, also known as Ryan O’Hara, after he allegedly rammed a police vehicle at Condell Park in September 2018 before evading officers.

He faces 210 charges and will appear in Central Local Court today.

The four other men previously charged includes Comanchero gang member Shane Anthony Ross, the owner of Gold Coast car and clothing brand Monstr, and his business manager Scott Stoneman. The pair was arrested on 19 combined charges in September last year.

Ross is the sole director and shareholder of Monstr Pty Ltd and partner in Monstr Detailing Pty Ltd, two businesses based in Coomera. The Monstr brand is described on the company’s website as targeting “motoring and gym enthusiasts”.

Ross’ Monstr brand targets “gym and motoring enthusiasts”.

The Facebook pages for Monstr Clothing, Monstr Customs and Monstr Detailing have a combined following of 50,000 people.

Police claim they have received 55 complaints from high-profile companies such as ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, St George and Pepper Finance.

Police documents filed in court reveal Strike Force Jib was formed in 2017 to investigate the two men’s alleged interstate fraud activities.

“Ross is a confirmed member of the Comanchero OMSCG,” the court documents allege.

“Ross is a career confidence fraud offender.

“He is highly organised and sophisticated in criminal activities and police methodology.”

Court documents also allege the luxury car syndicate operated run out of Campbelltown.

“Ross, Stoneman and two other associates by the names of Mohamad Alameddine and Hilal Merhi were responsible for organising fraudulent documents to establish registration and re-sale of the high-end vehicles.”

18 cars were seized as part of the police operation. Picture: David Becker

In changing the payment details to BPAY after securing the loan, police allege: “The syndicate formed the opinion that by making three payments the finance company were unable to report these incidents to police as it would be deemed a civil dispute.’’

Police claim they gathered evidence from search warrants, physical surveillance, forensic evidence, telephone interception material, business records and victim and witness statements.

Campbelltown Police Area Command, Crime Manager, Detective Chief Inspector Greg Inger, praised the work of the investigators in successfully dismantling the group.

“We are committed to tracking down, arresting and charging anyone involved in fraudulent activity and encourage community members to help us find these criminals,” he said.

A total of five men aged 36, 35, two aged 34, and 25 have been arrested in their involvement and are before the courts.