Hussein Zaphir jailed for $162,000 American Express card racket
A shonky car dealer ran a $162,000 American Express card racket during a lavish Melbourne shopping spree but none of the cash have been recovered.
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A shonky car dealer splashed $162,000 on high-end goods after running amok on a Melbourne shopping spree using stolen American Express cards.
Hussein Zaphir, 39, was sentenced in the County Court to six months’ jail after pleading guilty to charges including obtain a financial advantage by deception.
Zaphir racked up a whopping $161,511.95 bill on 14 dodgy purchases at jewellery, appliance and department stores during a four-day blitz between October and November 2014.
The court was told Zaphir used three stolen credit cards during the spree and some individual transactions were valued in the “tens of thousands of dollars”.
Zaphir attempted to spend another $11,573.08 on the cards but was unsuccessful.
Zaphir’s lawyer told the court his client was in the grip of serious drug addiction at the time, and was using the cards for someone else in return for drugs.
It was not alleged Zaphir stole the credit cards.
Judge Trevor Wraight said Zaphir’s “bold and audacious” offences were a serious example of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Zaphir, who also pleaded guilty to prohibited person in possession of a firearm, tried to flee off a balcony when police raided his New St, Armadale home on September 20, 2017.
He was seen throwing something into a garden bed before a loaded handgun was recovered, while body armour was also found inside his home.
The court heard Zaphir’s workplace had recently been shot at and in 2006, when he was living in Sydney, Zaphir’s two close friends were fatally shot in front of him, leading to him changing his name and moving state.
Zhapir was then convicted of dealing heroin and ice and possessing a gun in 2012.
The court heard since 2018, Zhapir had undergone drug rehabilitation and had recently moved back to Sydney, got married and begun working full time on the NBN rollout as a site supervisor.
He worked as a car dealer prior to his offending.
Judge Wraight – who noted none of the money had been recovered – said Zhapir could not avoid jail time for the serious offences.
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