Judge holds back laugh as Sunny the scammer appeals for release

Jailed for scamming his way into the high life, Sunny Sunny asked to be freed early because his sentence was too harsh. The judge wasn’t buying it.

A judge appears to have held back laughter as the most talented conman in Sydney’s west appealed his “lenient” prison sentence for scamming his way into the high life.

Sunny Sunny was revealed by The Daily Telegraph as a master con artist capable of reinventing himself with aliases and forging cheques to get a luxury car for less than $50, “pornstar experiences”, and even bars of gold.

A magistrate, sentencing Sunny for his main crime spree, found “special circumstances” after hearing Sunny was drug addicted.

Sunny is currently locked up in the minimum security John Morony prison until his release on January 1, 2023 and has been in custody since mid-2021.

Despite only a few more months left to serve in prison, Sunny went before the Parramatta District Court asking to be released early on Tuesday.

Scammer Sunny Sunny lost an appeal on more than a dozen charges including dishonesty obtained by deception, stealing a Range Rover and falsified documents.

Judge Stephen Hanley chuckled as he read through Sunny’s extensive crime spree on one hand and the fraudster’s request for even further leniency on the other.

“This is a series of offending … He’s just a prolific conman, isn’t he?” The judge mused. “The only possible factor that may be to his benefit, unintentionally, is that cheques are hardly ever used these days.”

Detective Lance Colyer, the detective that caught Sunny Sunny. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Judge Hanley said he felt the prison term was “quite lenient” and said there was no merit in Sunny being allowed to serve his sentence in the community.

Judge Hanley seemed unmoved by Sunny’s protests including a letter from his brother calling the scammer a man of “good character”.

“In my view that indicates he’s got no idea of the sort of behaviour you’ve been involved in which is of a criminal nature,” the judge said.

“Certainly you could not qualify as a person of prior good character.”

“The sentences are appropriate … in my view the appeal should be dismissed.”

Sunny sat silently in prison greens, his eyes narrowing as the verdict was read out.

The court heard his marriage had collapsed after he used his wife’s name in various scams without her knowledge – including listing her on documents and companies.

This month Sunny apologised to the Australian community saying “dark clouds” had consumed him after he arrived from India and fell into debt trying to run his brother’s trucking business.

Days later he pleaded guilty to yet another scam where he pocketed $9000 worth of gold with a fake bank transfer.

Sunny’s visa has been cancelled and, upon release, it’s expected he will be detained immediately by immigration authorities and deported back to India.

The court, on Tuesday, heard Sunny disagreed with that.