Former Social Research Centre IT manager Ivan Ocampo pleads guilty to 59 fraud charges

A former Melbourne research centre IT manager fleeced tech including iPhones and Surface Pros which he peddled via eBay.

Ivan Ocampo fronted Melbourne Magistrates' Court on criminal charges. Google.

A former IT manager stole flashy tech gear worth more than $70,000 from a Melbourne research centre which he later sold on eBay.

Ivan Ocampo, 40, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to a 30-month community correction order after pleading guilty to 59 fraud charges.

Ocampo rorted his former employer the Social Research Centre via a protracted tech racket between August 2013 and July 2019.

Ocampo used his role as the centre’s IT manager to place multiple bogus orders for expensive tech gear including Lenovo laptops, wireless Power Beats headphones and Apple iPhones and iPads.

The court heard Ocampo had clearance to make purchases up to $3000 without management approval.

The greedy fraudster rorted almost $70,000 of flashy tech which also included Microsoft Surface Pros and Nighthawk modems worth more than $1000 a pop.

Ocampo’s racket was on its last legs when Social Research Centre chief information officer Rob Sturgeon detected an issue with the company’s Telstra account in March 2018.

Mr Sturgeon accessed Ocampo’s work computer and discovered the fraudster had monitored and deleted emails bound for the centre’s chief executive which documented the group’s assets.

Mr Sturgeon audited the centre’s assets and determined there was a “large amount” of unaccounted hardware.

Further investigation uncovered Ocampo had flogged the expensive gear via eBay under the username ‘lotsofllamas’.

The conman sold multiple devices via eBay including hard drives, Apple tablets, Beats bluetooth speakers, modems, routers, Galaxy tablets and iPhones.

Ocampo set up the eBay account with a fictitious name and address but the shipping details were in his name and linked to a Southbank apartment.

The prolific conman also falsified a burglary report for a $3000 insurance rort on a Surface Pro and docking station he obtained from the centre.

Ocampo made partial admissions to acquiring the tech during a sketchy interview with police.

“I would’ve purchased things for work related but I guess if it wasn’t used I would’ve kept it for myself,” Ocampo told investigators.

Ocampo, who sought a sentencing indication before pleading guilty to all charges, had earlier been warned by Magistrate Hayley Bate he faced an “immediate” jail term.

However, Ocampo’s goose was saved from being cooked after he was granted a final chance to prove he suffered mental health issues during the fraud spree.

Mark Sturges, for Ocampo, submitted his client had undiagnosed bipolar during the offending but was now under treatment.

Ocampo, who has repaid more than $39,000, was convicted and ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work.

[e-mail]