Sydney woman Annelise Sunderland to fight charges over $1m property scam

Police have accused a Sydney woman of dealing with $1 million that was fraudulently obtained during a property settlement.

A Sydney woman wants to fight her charges after cybercrime detectives accused her of dealing with more than $1 million that was fraudulently obtained during a property settlement.

Annelise Sunderland, 29, faced Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday and told a registrar she wanted to plead not guilty to two counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

When asked if she wanted to say anything outside the courtroom, Sunderland said: “Leave me the f*** alone”.

Annelise Sunderland outside Parramatta court on Tuesday. Picture: John Grainger

Sunderland, 29, will plead not guilty to two counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime. Picture: John Grainger

Police allege an ACT woman – who they say is the victim in the matter – had unwittingly deposited the $1 million into a fake account during the settlement period of the property’s sale.

Detectives later realised the recipient’s account details had allegedly been sourced from a compromised email address belonging to that ACT woman’s lawyer.

A settlement period, which usually takes place a few weeks after contracts are exchanged, is when someone pays the remainder of a sale price and becomes the legal owner of a property.

Officers allege in court documents Sunderland dealt with $1,030,000 of fraudulent money in her National Australia Bank account and was reckless as to whether it was the proceeds of crime in June 2021.

Sunderland is also accused by police in the documents of transferring $14,100 of fraudulent money into a NAB account in the name of “Miss AJ Sunderland” and was reckless as to whether it was the proceeds of crime in the same month.

She was arrested in November after police raided a Parramatta unit and seized multiple mobile phones and documents for forensic analysis.

Sunderland’s arrest was made following a NSW Police probe into business email compromise scams.

A business email compromise scam occurs when an individual or a company receives a fake invoice purporting to be from a service or goods provider, requesting that money be sent to a fraudulent account.

Outside court, Cybercrime Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft said people must be careful when transferring money online.

“Get in the habit of checking the email address, URL and spelling used in all correspondence and heavily scrutinise all transactions that you make online,” Det Supt Craft said.

“(Business email compromise) scams aren’t easy to detect because the invoices for clients and contractors often use the desired recipients branding but contain altered banking details.

“To avoid being scammed, people should use two-step verification methods where appropriate and regularly update and maintain strong passwords.”

Sunderland, of Parramatta, remains on bail and will return to court for a mention on February 8.