Convicted conman and former EFNL club president Peter ‘Frosty’ Baird stole dad’s pension money

A disgraced eastern suburbs footy personality strung his cash-strapped dad along with brazen lies just to swindle his father’s pension cash.

Scoundrel former EFNL club president Peter "Frosty" Baird ripped of his own dad. Facebook.

A former suburban footy president has sunk to a new low after he caught-out in a web of lies while ripping off his own dad.

Peter ‘Frosty’ Baird, 50, pleaded guilty in the County Court on Monday to multiple fraud charges.

Baird, formerly of Berwick, stole $230,073 via multiple rorts between October 2012 and May 2020.

Baird diverted $152,423 in Centrelink pension payments bound for his cash-strapped father into his own bank accounts.

Baird strung his dad along with a fake story that the pension payments couldn’t be accessed because his accounts were “locked”.

Baird told his dad he would “contact” the Financial Ombudsman Office to “assist in getting these accounts unlocked”.

Baird then rang his dad multiple times while posing as phony Ombudsman members to mask his skulduggery.

Baird also posed as Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to keep his dad on the dangle.

The court heard Baird sent his dad an email purportedly from Mr Andrews regarding the locked accounts.

The smoke and mirror job went on for several years before Baird’s dad demanded his son help him fix the problem.

Baird stepped it up a notch, telling his dad he was now “liaising” with then-Finance Minister Robin Scott’s office to “resolve the problem”.

Baird then called his father frequently while posing as members of Mr Scott’s staff.

Baird also told his dad he would make “contact” with local MP Kim Wells then repeated his phony modus operandi well into 2020.

The victim’s daughter emailed Mr Scott’s office regarding the matter but was told no one had heard of her father.

Baird fobbed off this minor setback with a phony story about “privacy considerations”.

Baird is a serial swindler.

Baird also took out a $42,650 loan for a brand new 2012 Dodge Journey and a $35,000 loan, both in his dad’s name.

The court heard Baird’s dad only worked part-time and later relied on his wife for money during the offending period.

Baird’s father said, in a statement read to the court, he “wants nothing more to do with his son”.

The conman’s deceit was found out after he was jailed for other fraud rackets.

Baird, a serial swindler who fronted court via videolink from custody, received his final bogus pension payment the day after he was handed a 45-month jail term in May 2020.

Baird was jailed for a bogus cheque racket which left a trail of victims, including the mother of his two children.

The fraudster threw around valueless cheques “like they were going out of style” to purchase cars, pay bills and rent and even lay down a deposit for a house.

Unwitting stooges webbed into Baird’s lengthy deceit between 2013 and 2014 included the Eastern Football and Netball League.

Baird also repaid the EFNL $692 with a bogus cheque after he lost a camera while he worked for the league’s media team.

In February 2014, Baird bounced three cheques to cover the $94,000 deposit on a $960,000 Lysterfield South property.

Baird, a former Rowville Football Club president, left his former partner with a $58,000 debt after he ducked on an agreement to cover bills in lieu of child support.

Instead, Baird “intercepted” the woman’s mail to make it appear he had paid the bills, the court was told.

She only found out not everything was right when contacted by debt collectors.

Baird attempted to clear the debt with a series of valueless $67,000 cheques.

Baird also paid another former partner’s interstate relocation costs — with a bogus cheque.

Baird also opened 10 accounts with Bankwest Online between July and December, 2014.

Baird then ripped off $82,000 by depositing cheques into these accounts in person then immediately withdrawing cash before the cheques could bounce.

Baird was interviewed by police in November 2015, then again in November 2017 when he admitted his crimes.

Baird played senior football with Knox and Koo Wee Rup and held an assistant coaching role at Surrey Park while offending.

Baird, a former prison officer, will be sentenced at a later date.

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