Siriluck Chimmalee makes bail bid in Supreme Court before trial over alleged Ponzi scheme style fraud

A woman accused of swindling millions in an alleged Ponzi scheme has made yet another bid for bail in the lead up to her trial. Here’s the latest.

Chimmalee applied for bail at the Supreme Court. Picture: Diego Fedele.

A woman who allegedly swindled millions in a dating app Ponzi scheme has made yet another bid for bail in the lead up to her trial, telling the court she has been restricted from accessing evidence due to their “pornographic” nature.

Wearing her prison greens, Siriluck Fatima Chimmalee appeared via audiovisual link in the NSW Supreme Court where she represented herself on Tuesday.

The court heard the 30-year-old was also accused of contacting two witnesses, who she described to the court as her “sugar daddy” and “friend with benefits”.

Chimmalee had been charged with 57 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, with the charges springing from alleged currency fraud.

A court previously heard she had allegedly swindled $5.2m out of members of the Thai community which she had promised to invest for substantial returns.

Siriluck Fatima Chimmalee.

On Tuesday the court heard Chimmalee was hit with these 57 charges while she was in prison serving a four year jail sentence after she was convicted of “romance fraud matters”.

Crown prosecutor David Morters told the court Chimmalee had allegedly convinced a man that she was able to get a particularly advantageous exchange rate for the Australian dollar because of her connections to various financial institutions.

The alleged victims received some small returns on their investments initially because “that’s how Ponzi schemes work,” Mr Morters said.

It will be alleged she used their money for personal expenses and withdrew large sums from ATMS, rather than actually invest it, the court heard.

Siriluck Fatima Chimmalee.

The Thai native, who has made previous unsuccessful bail applications, told the court she had difficult accessing the brief of evidence while in custody.

One of the reasons for this, Chimmalee told the court, was that the evidence had sexual or pornographic material which was not allowed in prison.

She also said the prosecution case was weak, saying the Crown “talks so s**t” and “don’t even have ground to make an arrest”.

Chimmalee further told the court she “regrets” having previously contacted two witnesses during proceedings.

However, Mr Morters told the court Chimmalee could view the material but had demonstrated a “lack of interest” in seeing it.

The court also heard she could continue “to use her manipulative means” while on bail.

“She is at risk of continuing to attempt to influence people to assist her,” the prosecution said.

Mr Morters further alleged her “desperate” bids for bail were because she wanted to avoid trial and “avoid responsibility” for the alleged currency fraud charges.

Justice Deborah Sweeney denied the request for bail. Chimmalee’s trial is listed for September.