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Haileybury grad Stephanie Reed supplied clients identity while working at Jellis Craig Hawthorn

A former star Haileybury swimmer swapped her Hawthorn estate agency clients’ IDs for drugs after turning to meth and GHB to help her lose weight.

Stephanie Reed, 27, pleaded guilty to multiple offences. Facebook.
Stephanie Reed, 27, pleaded guilty to multiple offences. Facebook.

A former Jellis Craig lease consultant accessed and illegally supplied clients’ personal information which was later used in various frauds.

Stephanie Reed, 27, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday to supply identification with intent to commit obtain financial advantage by deception.

Reed accessed the Form 1 rental applications of multiple clients while she worked at Jellis Craig Hawthorn between September 13 and November 13, 2019.

The court heard Reed passed on the confidential information to an accomplice who used the victims’ identities to obtain various bogus email, phone and credit accounts.

Reed’s accomplice purchased goods including a JVC receiver and vintage leather bar stools via various online transactions.

The accomplice also purchased a $2236 Collarium Classic tanning canopy, the court was told.

Reed later sold the receiver and the tanning canopy via a Facebook Marketplace account.

Police seized evidence including a laptop, receipt for the tanning canopy, the Jellis Craig rental applications and other bogus pay slips and credit card applications after raiding the accomplice’s Sandringham apartment on March 28 last year.

Reed used drugs to manage her weight.
Reed used drugs to manage her weight.

The jig was up for Reed, who also pleaded guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime, after she was arrested at her Langwarrin home on August 24 last year.

Police seized multiple devices which contained evidence linking Reed to her accomplice and the tanning canopy.

Reed gave “no comment” responses when quizzed regarding the Jellis Craig identity racket but claimed she sold the tanning canopy to “pay her rent”.

Investigators made inquiries with Jellis Craig Hawthorn director Sophie Lyons before tracing the rental application racket back to Reed via email, the court was told.

Reed attended Haileybury on a swimming scholarship.
Reed attended Haileybury on a swimming scholarship.

Reed was already on the police radar after she rolled her car down an embankment while driving on meth at Langwarrin on July 5 last year.

Reed, who licence was suspended at the time, told police she was “sorry” for driving drug affected.

“Just stupidity really,” Reed said.

Just days earlier Reed was pulled over near Bunnings Mentone for driving unlicensed and using a mobile phone while driving.

Reed, who told police she had used her phone to check Google Maps, explained she had a “lot going on” which included a recent stint in rehab for drug abuse.

The court heard Reed graduated from elite Bayside private school Haileybury College which she attended on a swimming scholarship.

Reed had worked in real estate but wants to become a swimming teacher in the future.
Reed had worked in real estate but wants to become a swimming teacher in the future.

Reed had worked for various estate agents since she was 23, the court was told.

Reed’s downfall was cemented after the former junior national swimming star turned to illicit party drugs including meth and GHB.

The defence submitted Reed began using drugs due to anxiety and a “growing lack of confidence” and to “manage her weight”.

The court was told Reed, a mother, swapped the Jellis Craig client identity information for cash to buy drugs.

The defence submitted the accomplice facilitated the racket and encouraged Reed, who has no priors, to obtain the personal information.

Reed hopes to work as a swimming teacher in the future but is now focused on being a mother for her child, the court was told.

Reed was convicted and fined $1500 and her licence was disqualified for nine months.

paul.shapiro@news.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-south/haileybury-grad-stephanie-reed-supplied-clients-identity-while-working-at-jellis-craig-hawthorn/news-story/78fd197075660fb226262bc322a474e5