Azza Zakaria charged with fraud as husband Masood Zakaria on the run
The wife of fugitive Masood Zakaria has allegedly been caught in a $1 million scam used to buy a plush family home in Western Sydney as police hunted her husband.
Police & Courts
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The wife of Australia’s most wanted man was allegedly caught in a $1 million lie used to buy a plush family home in Western Sydney as police hunted her husband.
Azza Zakaria, 26, is alleged to have used altered business documents to beef-up the home loan application that saw her purchase the sprawling Greystanes property last year.
Her husband Masood Zakaria, a senior member of the Alameddine crime gang, has been on the run for four months.
Police raided his flashy Greystanes home in December but they didn’t find him, instead issuing a warrant for his arrest later that afternoon.
His 26-year-old wife was arrested that day, however, after police found her at Star City Casino.
Zakaria, who also goes by Ezzat Alameddine, was charged with several offences related to the purchase of their marital home.
Nestled in a cul-de-sac in Royal Pl, the Zakarias’ home was their kingdom, complete with six bedrooms, a pool room, three-car garage and an outdoor pizza oven.
But that came tumbling down on December 15, when several officers from the raptor squad arrived at the door screaming “Police, search warrant, open up”.
As part of sweeping raids across Sydney, a NSW Crime Commission Criminal Assets Recovery Act search warrant was executed at the couple’s home.
After her arrest at the casino, Zakaria was taken to Day St police station by officers from the criminal groups squad.
She was charged with dishonestly obtaining property by deception, and four counts of using a false document to obtain a financial advantage.
Her case was mentioned in Parramatta Local Court this week, where the nature of the allegations was revealed.
In documents tendered to the court, police alleged that on January 23 last year, Zakaria made a fraudulent application for a home loan, dishonestly obtaining $1.125 million to fund the purchase of the Royal Place home.
As part of the alleged scheme, police also claim she “fraudulently altered” a business activity statement for the reporting period of July to September 2019 to gain the home loan.
She was granted bail by the courts the following day.
Zakaria was forced to hand over her passport, and agree not to enter any airport or international departure point.
She was also ordered to go only by the name of Azza Zakaria. She is yet to enter pleas to the charges against her.
While her matter was mentioned in court, her husband remains at large.
Police believe the last place he may have been was the Central Coast or Newcastle, hopping from Airbnbs under false names to avoid detection.
In December, the police criminal gangs squad reissued their alert on Masood Zakaria.
The squad said Zakaria was wanted on “several organised crime-related offences, including conspiracy to murder”.
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