Conman could reoffend if phone and iPad not destroyed: police

Police want to destroy the phones, laptops and iPad of serial conman Hamish McLaren who stole $7.6 million from friends and family.

The phones, laptops and iPad of serial conman Hamish McLaren could be destroyed to prevent him being able to access the data of his victims when he is released from jail.

Police last week made an application to the NSW Local Court to destroy McLaren’s personal property they seized during their initial raids on his Bondi Beach apartment.

McLaren, 51, was in 2019 sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison for stealing $7.6 million from dozens of people, including several women he dated, between 2011 and 2017.

Serial conman Hamish McLaren could have his personal possessions destroyed if an application by NSW Police is approved in court. Picture: Supplied

Court documents reveal a major reason for the police bid to destroy the devices is they fear he could easily reoffend if they land back in McLaren’s hands.

The five personal belongings NSW Police want to destroy are a $200 BlackBerry mobile phone, a $300 MacBook Air, a $699 Apple laptop, a $419 Apple iPad and a $200 Apple iPhone.

Although the list may be small, police claim the items are worth far more than their sale value to McLaren.

“It is the belief of NSW Police that returning these devices to McLaren will allow him to quickly resume any fraudulent activity using the same phone numbers and digital accounts,” the documents read.

“The information retrieved by police is limited to what was physically stored on these devices at the time. It is suspected that there is a great deal more information in relation to fraudulent activities of McLaren stored in cloud-based services inaccessible by police.

The five personal belongings of McLaren’s that NSW Police want to destroy are a $200 BlackBerry mobile phone, a $300 MacBook Air, a $699 Apple laptop, a $419 Apple iPad and a $200 Apple iPhone. Picture: Supplied.

“The auto logins of various web-based services that will use these devices will immediately grant McLaren access to data from this period of offending that he would otherwise not have access to.

“Given the scale and gravity of these offences, police believe the risk of returning these devices and the data held with them is too great.”

During his years of offending, McLaren went by several aliases including Hamish Watson, Hamish Maxwell and Max Tavita. Police fear if they do not destroy the five devices, the conman could easily re-adopt any of his personas.

McLaren conned more than a dozen victims out of millions of dollars, spending the cash on lavish cars or experiences, before moving on to his next town and victim.

Originally published as Conman could reoffend if phone and iPad not destroyed: police