Bethany Connolly charged with fraud and identity theft offences

A Sydney woman has been charged after she created multiple bank accounts in someone else’s name and took out a loan worth thousands of dollars to spend on herself.

A Sydney woman who stole a woman’s identity and opened multiple bank accounts in her name used a fraudulent $3000 loan to pay for Uber Eats, an iPhone and rideshare trips.

Bethany Connolly, 28, was charged with three counts of dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence, one count of using a false document to obtain a financial advantage, two counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception and one count of driving with an expired licence following a police investigation into alleged identity fraud.

Police began investigating after a woman reported to police she had received letters from two banks confirming accounts had been opened in her name – which she knew nothing about.

They then discovered Connolly had opened multiple bank accounts in the woman’s name, as well as a phone plan, and spent thousands of dollars in the victim’s name for her own benefit.

Former project manager Connolly has now pleaded guilty to all seven offences after police connected the IP address used to open the bank accounts in the woman’s name to her and discovered the connected cards in her phone’s Apple Pay wallet.

Contracts manager Bethany Connolly.

Agreed police facts tendered to Sutherland Local Court state Connolly used the woman’s name, birthdate, driver’s licence and passport – plus her own phone number and an email address she created – to open a Bankwest account on June 11.

On June 12, Connolly used the same information – plus what appeared to be the woman’s pay slips – to open an account with National Australia Bank and take out a $3000 loan.

“The pay slip details the victim’s name and address but the records are incorrect,” police state.

“The victim did not work at the location for the dates on the pay slip, and the earnings are incorrect and significantly more than what the victim was earning.

“Police allege the accused has used the false pay slip for the purpose of being granted a loan, which she then used and financially benefited from.”

From June 12 to June 15, Connolly activated a Telstra sim in the victim’s name and made multiple transactions from the Bankwest account amounting to $528.49, which included Uber trips to and from her address as well as food via Uber Eats.

“Between June 13 and June 21, the accused made 41 transactions at various locations around the Sutherland and St George area on the NAB account,” police state.

“These transactions totalled $2993.16, where the loan amount for the account was $3000.”

Contracts manager Bethany Connolly.

CCTV captured the moment Connolly used Apple Pay connected to the fraudulent account to help someone known to her purchase an iPhone 12 costing $1349.

When the victim alerted police to the identity theft, police then discovered Connolly’s IP address had been involved in the successful attempts to open bank accounts in the victim’s name.

“It was clear that the accused was involved in dealing with the victim’s identity information for fraudulent purposes,” police state.

Police swooped on Connolly after they watched her drive away from her Carss Park address to a nearby petrol station while her licence was expired.

“She informed police ‘I paid my fines so it should be good’,” police state.

“Checks revealed that on March 15 she was stopped by police and issued an infringement at this time for driving with an expired licence.”

Contracts manager Bethany Connolly, 27.

A search warrant conducted at Connolly’s address while she was in police custody and later in hospital due to illness connected to her pregnancy revealed “diaries with different details for several people along with several electronic devices, including SIM cards and USBs”.

“Police also accessed the accused’s phone, which contained various bank details for different people,” police state.

At Sutherland Local Court on February 17, Connolly further pleaded guilty to possessing identity information to commit an indictable offence and possessing suspected stolen goods in 2020 – charges she had initially planned to defend at a hearing.

Court documents reveal Connolly and her partner were found in a car along with multiple bank cards in other people’s names, and three notebooks full of names, dates of birth, addresses, emails, phone numbers and bank account details in June 2020.

She will be sentenced for both the 2020 and 2021 matters at Sutherland Local Court on April 12.

Contracts manager Bethany Connolly.

Connolly’s lawyer told the court they would also enter pleas to 24 additional charges laid in respect of the 2021 matters, in which police allege Connolly defrauded various people of thousands of dollars through bank accounts and cards set up in their names.

Police will allege Connolly used the bank accounts and cards to pay for baby supplies, gaming accessories and rideshare trips as well as financial loans.