Pakenham ice-using serial scammer faces court again over dodgy Bunnings rip-off refund rort
A Pakenham scammer who tried to fleece Bunnings in the past using an unusual refund rort needed cash to buy ice — and her only option was to fall back on her dodgy tricks.
South East
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A serial scammer tried to rip off Bunnings by using discarded receipts found in carpark bins to get refunds to buy drugs.
Suzanne Marie Wilson was nabbed using her devious modus operandi to con hardware store staff into refunding money she wasn’t entitled to.
The 49-year-old from Pakenham would then use the dosh to buy drugs to feed her ice habit.
This wasn’t her first rip-off refund rodeo, having been sentenced to a community corrections order in 2015 for nearly identical crimes.
At the online Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday she pleaded guilty to attempting to an obtain property by deception.
She also admitted drug and unlicensed driving, drug possession and bail breach offences.
The court heard in July last year Wilson went to the Springvale Bunnings store and loaded up her trolley with five items worth around $270.
She then went to a service counter, and armed with receipts, asked for cash refunds for all five.
A security guard thought she was acting suspiciously, told the counter staff to refuse her request and called police.
When she was searched they found another 20 receipts in her possession.
She told officers they weren’t her receipts and she wanted to buy drugs with the money from the refunds.
She also brought Valium, which she didn’t have a prescription for, into Dandenong court in January this year and was caught unlicensed driving while high on ice in Pakenham in September last year.
Her defence lawyer said Wilson had had long-term problems but her life had changed recently as she was now a full-time carer for her ill mother.
She said the offending was low-level, she was now on methadone to help her substance abuse issues and submitted her crimes were worthy of a fine.
But Magistrate Andrew Halse said he did not agree.
“I don’t consider it low level, it is planned and systematic offending,” Mr Halse said.
“It is on what she perceives to be on soft targets such as Bunnings.
“On this type of behaviour courts need to reflect (harshly), less people think they can also commit these types of offences.”
He adjourned her case for two weeks so she could be assessed for a corrections order.
Mr Halse said Wilson must next appear at court in person, which could mean she faces a period of imprisonment.
She also must lose her licence for at least 12 months as she has relevant drug-driving priors.
She will be sentenced on December 7.
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