Justin Inczedi: Gumtree fraud lands man in court

A serial fraudster brazenly scammed people out of $65,000, including a prominent NRL player by trading cars and bikes on Gumtree.

A man brazenly scammed Canberrans selling vehicles on Gumtree, including an NRL player, out of $65,780 using bogus receipts and dodgy IDs.

Justin Inczedi, 37, has pleaded guilty to a raft of charges after he took off with people’s cars and a high-end road bike when the victims were attempting to sell them on Gumtree.

A court heard Inczedi would provide false receipts and IDs to make it appear as though he had facilitated the payment before he took off with the goods without paying.

NRL player Nick Cotric – who was then signed to the Canberra Raiders – was stiffed out of a whopping $45,000 when Inczedi nicked his Mitsubishi EVO by providing false evidence of the payment.

Inczedi also stole a $3780 road bike and pedals from a Coombs man in November 2020, along with a Gungahlin woman’s Subaru Impreza WRX listed for sale at $17,000.

Luckily, all three victims’ items were located and returned – but Cotric’s vehicle incurred substantial damage worth $5000 before it was ultimately recovered.

Inczedi was charged with three counts of obtaining property by deception, one count of unauthorised possession of a firearm and one count of driving while disqualified after police finally tracked him down at the Infinity Towers in March 2021.

He appeared in the ACT Magistrate’s Court via AVL on October 27, after pleading guilty to three charges of obtaining property by deception alongside one charge of driving while disqualified and one firearm related charge.

Inczedi was given a combined jail sentence of 14 months backdated to March 27, 2021, and due to expire on May 25, 2022.

He has been behind bars on remand since March 27 and will be eligible for parole on November 26.

Inczedi was fined $1000 for possession of an unauthorised firearm and is disqualified from driving for 2 years.

Mr Cotric agreed to sell the car for $45,000 via money transfer but Inczedi insisted on taking the car immediately.

After Mr Cotric told Inczedi he’d prefer to wait until the money transfer went through, Inczedi sent a sham receipt, purporting to be from People’s Choice Credit Union, according to court documents.

Mr Cotric didn't receive payment and following numerous attempts to meet Inczedi at the Gungahlin branch of People’s Choice Credit Union to finalise the payment, Mr Cotric’s father spoke to a teller at the credit union who confirmed the receipt was not genuine.

During sentencing, the court heard Inczedi subsequently scammed a man out of $3780 after using the pseudonym “Peter” to try and buy a 2019 ‘Canyon Sender’ mountain bike for sale on Gumtree in October 2020.

Inczedi organised a test drive of the bike and told the seller Scott Sutherland he wished to purchase the bike, along with $80 “Race Face Chester” nylon pedals.

Mr Sutherland received a dodgy bank receipt, however the cash never landed in the seller’s account.

After numerous attempts, Mr Sutherland gave Inczedi an ultimatum; pay up or return the bike.

Inczedi told Mr Sutherland he was in Western Australia because someone had passed away and said he’d try to pay again.

Yet he never did, prompting Mr Sutherland to report to ACT policing.

Inczedi was then involved in a third scam in March when he contacted a woman who had listed her silver Subaru Impreza WRX on Gumtree using the fake name “Sam Hill”.

They organised a test drive of the car at Bunnings Gungahlin, and immediately after the test drive Inczedi offered to pay $17,000 for the vehicle. He sent a sham receipt and took the car.

On March 26, she went to her bank and was told the BSB and account number listed in the receipt did not exist, the court heard.

The woman notified her friends and later that day, someone noticed her car parked at the Infinity Towers apartment complex in Gungahlin.

Police searched the apartment in the early hours of March 27 and arrested Inczedi at 1.22am and had the car towed.

At his apartment, police found the keys to the woman’s car, and photos of scam receipts he sent to victims.

Police found the burner phone Mr Inczedi used to contact victims and a Black and Brown Cooey .22 calibre rifle, wrapped in a towel and plastic with its serial number removed.

Defence lawyer Tanja Cobden said while her client had committed serious crimes, the possibility of rehabilitation “loomed large”.

Ms Cobden outlined some of the difficulties Mr Inczedi faced throughout his childhood and adulthood.

A statement from the defendant's mother stated she suspected her son may have foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Ms Cobden said the premature birth of his son, the loss of custody of his daughter and the loss of his partner to suicide in 2019 pushed Inczedi towards drug use and criminal activity.

The court heard Inczedi had used illicit drugs, including ice, cannabis, and benzodiazepines, since he was 16, and has recently been attending a monthly opioid-based treatment to curb his drug use.

Ms Cobden said after her client is released from custody, he plans to reconnect with his mother, and gain custody of his daughter to stay on a law-abiding path.

The prosecution argued even if Inczedi was officially diagnosed with a foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, it would not be considered a main contributor to his offending.

The prosecution told the court Inczedi had a pattern of offending, a pride in criminality, and lacked empathy or remorse for his actions despite his guilty pleas.

In sentencing Magistrate Robert Cook said Inczedi needed to be held accountable for his actions.

“We need to protect the Canberra community and their property,” he said.

Mr Cook noted Inczedi blamed the victims for falling for the scam; claiming his actions didn’t hurt anyone and victims “should make sure the money is in their account.”

However Mr Cook argued despite numerous spelling errors in the sham receipts, the fraud still required a level of premeditation and sophistication.

“It was planned, it was intentional,” he said.

“(The scam was) enough to convince hardworking people who owned their property.”

Mr Cook characterised Inczedi as someone with a high risk of reoffending.