Kanishka Chaudhari, 24, of North Sydney, charged over alleged bottle shop refund scam

A young woman allegedly swindled a prominent Sydney bottle shop chain out of a large amount of money, over a seven-month period.

Kanishka Chaudhari, 24, of North Sydney, outside Manly Local Court on Thursday, February 22, where she is facing 14 counts of dishonestly obtain property by deception for allegedly taking money from Camperdown Cellars. Picture: Manly Daily

A woman allegedly ripped of a prominent chain of Sydney bottle shops in a refund scam.

Kanishka Chaudhari, 24, of North Sydney, made 14 “self-initiated” refunds to dishonestly get hold of the money, Manly Local Court was told on Thursday.

Ms Chaudhari allegedly took a total of close to $1500 from Camperdown Cellars.

The bottle shop chain has eight outlets in Sydney, including shops at Neutral Bay and Cremorne.

Ms Chaudhari is facing 14 counts of dishonestly obtain property by deception.

She is yet to enter a plea.

There was no indication in court papers, or in court, whether Ms Chaudhari was an employee of Camperdown Cellars, or had been a customer of the retailer.

Kanishka Chaudhari, 24, of North Sydney, outside Manly Local Court on Thursday, where she is facing 14 counts of dishonestly obtain property by deception for allegedly taking money from Camperdown Cellars.

In documents tendered to court, police alleged that she committed all of the 14 alleged offences at North Sydney over a period of seven months, beginning on May 16, 2023.

Individual amounts ranging from as high as $329.74, down to $54.99, were allegedly taken by what police described as “deception, that is, by self-initiated refunds”.

The last amount was allegedly taken by Ms Chaudhari on November 29 last year.

Ms Chaudhari appeared in court on Thursday morning without a solicitor.

The Camperdown Cellars bottle shop at Neutral Bay. Picture: Camperdown Cellars

Magistrate Robyn Denes told the defendant that the charges she was facing were “serious” and gave her time to discuss her case with a Legal Aid solicitor.

When she came back to court, a Legal Aid solicitor asked for an adjournment because there was an apparent issue with information on the indictment that needed to be clarified.

Ms Denes adjourned the matter, for plea or mention, to Manly court on March 21.