Bunnings Warehouse: Solon Papaconstantinou used fake OpenPay accounts to net tools
A man used stolen identities and bank details to swipe almost $8000 worth of tools, CCTV cameras and wet wipes from Bunnings Warehouse stores in Melbourne’s north. And even his arrest didn’t stop his offending.
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A man used fraudulent OpenPay accounts to steal almost $8000 worth of goods from Bunnings Warehouse stores in Melbourne’s north.
Solon Papaconstantinou also tried to swipe almost $4000 worth of goods from a Preston furniture store using one of the 11 fake accounts created using stolen identities and bank details, Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court has heard.
OpenPay allows you to purchase goods on credit, paying them off over weekly or fortnightly instalments.
The 36-year-old used the false accounts on 14 different occasions from July 7, 2019 until February 8 this year, stealing $8296.70 worth of goods by deception.
Papaconstantinou primarily stole from Bunnings Warehouse at Preston’s Northland shopping centre, but also targeted Bunnings Warehouse Box Hill, Bunnings Warehouse Thomastown and the House Northland store.
The court heard he stole a broad range of items, from power tools to CCTV cameras, tiles, batteries, tea towels, tongs, paint, knives and wet wipes.
Papaconstantinou also tried to steal $3889 worth of furniture at Fair Price Furniture Preston on September 15, but failed to have the transaction go through.
He was with his partner for many of the incidents, and was with a man unknown to investigators on the other occasions.
The court heard OpenPay had revealed all of the fraudulent accounts were made using stolen personal and credit card details.
They were all made on the same device, using identical passcodes.
Papaconstantinou was arrested for a number of the deceptions on October 23, yet was back committing the same crime the next day, stealing $1278 from Bunnings Warehouse Northland on October 24.
Papaconstantinou was also placed on a community corrections order for other offences in October, which he breached with a deception at a Bunnings Warehouse store in February.
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Papaconstantinou pleaded guilty to all charges before the court on Tuesday, June 9.
He had spent 11 days in custody.
The court heard Papaconstantinou suffered from a “raging methamphetamine addiction” during the offending and lived with his parents in Templestowe.
Magistrate Helen Murphy said the “reasonably sophisticated” crimes were serious because of how many times they occurred, and the amount of money they involved.
She said Papaconstantinou was an unusual person to sentence because he was middle-aged with a “very limited criminal history”.
Considering the days he had already spent in jail, Ms Murphy placed him back on a community corrections order, including 150 hours of community work and treatment for drugs and mental health issues.
Papaconstantinou was also ordered to pay restitution for his crimes.