Castro Saleh convicted after selling fake iPhones while on bail facing unrelated charges

An amateur martial artist and former Sydney TikToker scammed people into buying fake iPhones while awaiting trial for unrelated, serious charges, a court has heard.

Castro Saleh outside Bankstown Local Court last November, when he pleaded guilty. Picture: NewsLocal

An amateur martial artist and former TikToker scammed people into buying fake iPhones while awaiting trial for unrelated, serious charges, a court has heard.

Castro Saleh, 20, faced Bankstown Local Court on Thursday, having previously pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, possessing a prohibited drug, and failing as a driver to disclose information to police.

The court heard Saleh used Facebook Marketplace to advertise and sell two fake iPhone 15 Pro Max phones, claiming the items were new, genuine Apple products in perfect condition.

On January 3 last year, a man and his teenage daughter organised to meet Saleh at the Eastwood train station parking lot, where they asked to inspect the phone before buying it.

“I can only show you the phone. I cannot turn on the phone,” Saleh told the father and daughter.

Bankstown Local Court. Picture: Robert Pozo

“If I opened the box, then I cannot sell it.”

Magistrate Glenn Walsh said Saleh “spun a story, a story of lies” about being hesitant to open the sealed box because a previous deal had gone wrong.

Convinced, the father transferred $1700 to a bank account in Saleh’s name, court documents state.

Later that afternoon, the teenager switched on the phone and quickly realised the device was counterfeit.

Concerned, she tried contacting Saleh but realised he had blocked her and had ceased all contact. The father and daughter reported the incident to police.

A few days later, on January 8 last year, Saleh used a Facebook account under the fake name “John Bernard” to organise another meeting with a man desperate to replace his dead, second-hand phone.

Castro Saleh outside Bankstown Local Court last year. Picture: NewsLocal

The man told Saleh he could only afford to pay $1300, the last of his savings, for the phone after previously being scammed into buying a permanently locked device.

The man asked Saleh if they could meet outside an Apple store.

“I don’t want trouble please don’t understand to me wrong (sic),” the man messaged.

“It is my last money and too many people lied to me.”

Saleh, posing as “John Bernard”, replied that he understood if the man did not want to make the purchase.

“(But) 1.3 is a bargain id [sic] grab it quick if I were you,” he wrote.

“It’s definitely not locked and most definitely not fake it’s still sealed.”

Castro Saleh outside Bankstown Local Court on January 9, 2024. Picture: NewsLocal

Court documents state at about 6.45pm, the man arrived at Fourth Ave in Condell Park with a friend, and handed Saleh the money in cash after taking photos of the 20-year-old’s partially covered licence and number plates.

As they began opening the box, Saleh sped away from the scene.

Court documents state the front screen and rear camera of the phone were different and, when booted up, had an Android system rather than an Apple one.

Realising the phone was fake, the pair attempted to follow Saleh’s car before reporting it to police.

Saleh was arrested later the same evening when he attended a police station for mandatory bail reporting and officers realised a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

A search of his vehicle revealed $900 in cash, and 1.4g of cocaine. Police also seized two iPhones belonging to Saleh.

On Thursday, Saleh’s solicitor, Wayne Russell, submitted his client should not be convicted of the offences despite their seriousness, saying each victim had since been fully repaid.

Castro Saleh competed in the Urban Fight Night MMA competition in 2023.

Mr Russell told the court that, at the time of the offence, his client had been trying to impress an “undesirable group of people” with whom he was no longer associated.

“Everyone is entitled to make mistakes,” Mr Russell said.

He said his client was in the process of obtaining a commercial pilot licence, with dreams of flying for the Royal Australian Air Force, and blamed Saleh’s recent job loss on previous media coverage.

“Your honour, I read a book over the Christmas break and there was a particular line that stood out to me: ‘Smart people make dumb choices’,” Mr Russell told the court.

He said Saleh had no prior convictions.

Castro Saleh was a popular Australian TikToker prior to deleting his account.

However, Mr Walsh said the fact the offences had been committed while Saleh was on bail for other serious alleged offences were aggravating features.

“I agree that everyone is entitled to make mistakes, but this was no mistake,” Mr Walsh said.

“He had to source the fake phones. They don’t simply fall out of trees.

“He had to plan and then carry it out and repeat the routine.”

Mr Walsh convicted Saleh on each charge. He sentenced Saleh to an 18-month, unsupervised community correction order and fined him $1000.