Seven financial fraudsters caught in the act in Melbourne’s southeast
From scamming domestic violence agencies to work colleagues and the ATO, these southeastern swindlers have racked up some of the biggest fraud bills of 2024. See who they are:
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As financial crimes continued to rise across Victoria, swindlers and fraudsters popped up in droves in southeastern courts.
New data from the Crime Statistics Agency revealed obtaining property by deception offences had risen 6.2 per cent year on year for the year ending September 2024 — and almost 16 per cent over the past decade.
In Casey alone, offences rose by five per cent over 12 months and 11.62 per cent over the decade.
Here are seven people caught committing financial crimes – including tax and credit card fraud – who contributed to the rising crime rates this year.
Dean Pipicelli
A disgraced former Bass Coast footy coach who ripped off his mates and employer of more than $700k to feed his gambling addiction was jailed in June for his Ponzi scheme.
Dean Pipicelli, 56, forged documents and made false representations of investment opportunities to obtain money from his employer Gippsland Timber and five players from the Kilcunda Bass Football Club and Stony Creek Football Club between January 2019 and April 2020.
Pipicelli ran his “simplistic” Ponzi scheme to fuel his gambling addiction and fund his lifestyle in the Bass Coast.
He claimed to be buying and onselling timber for profit, promising significant returns for the victims he tricked into investing.
Pipicelli was sentenced to 30 months in jail after pleading guilty to eight charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one charge of theft.
Pipicelli “preyed upon and wantonly deceived” his business partners and five other victims, scamming them out of $700,000.
Samantha Azzopardi
The internationally infamous con-artist struck again, swindling almost $25,000 from two Melbourne domestic violence refuges, using a fake positive pregnancy test to get hold of much needed funds in a “cunning and sophisticated” scam.
Samantha Azzopardi, 36, appeared in the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court in October exactly one year after she was arrested in Northcote.
Azzopardi engaged in an extended period of “sophisticated” offending, amounting to six charges relating to obtaining financial advantage by deception after she scammed more than $20,000 in housing and vouchers from two Melbourne domestic violence refuges.
Over a three-month period, Azzopardi scammed $24,979 from two refuges in accommodation, doctors visits, food vouchers and more.
Azzopardi went as far as faking a positive pregnancy test result to continue her “sophisticated” act, as well as making efforts to look younger than she was, including modifying her appearance with facial freckle tattoos.
Magistrate Luisa Bazzani said Azzopardi’s offending was “cunning, organised and repetitive”.
“This offending is serious, repetitive, it is offending that has caused an enormous amount of damage to the victims involved and the services taken from other potentially genuine and in need family violence victims,” Ms Bazzani said.
Ms Bazzani sentenced Azzopardi to two years imprisonment with a 12 month parole period.
She was ordered to pay back the stolen funds to the domestic violence refuges and fined $700 for opening an account under a false name.
Katie Davey
A degenerate gambling junkie who ripped more than $700,000 from her ex-partner’s company to fund a crippling online slots addiction dodged a jail term.
Katie Davey, 43, was sentenced in the County Court to a four-year community correction order after pleading guilty to obtain financial advantage by deception charges.
The mum grifted $706,586 via 1109 bogus transactions while employed at her former partner’s Gippsland-based company Stephenson Transport.
Davey diddled account records to fleece the cash into her personal bank accounts between March 2014 and April 2016 and rorted a further $30,971 via a company credit card which she plonked on online bets.
Her racket began to unravel in September 2015 after a meeting between Davey, her ex-partner and an accountant.
The accountant warned the pair Stephenson Transport’s tax bill had ballooned to between $400,000 and $440,000.
The court heard Davey and her ex-partner’s relationship “deteriorated” following the meeting and they eventually split in April 2016.
The 43-year-old told investigators she blew most of the cash on online slot machines and that she had a “gambling problem”.
Davey was convicted and also ordered to perform 300 hours of unpaid community work.
Felicity Tang
An ex-employee who swindled Lululemon of more than $21,000 faced the sour consequences after a joint police investigation exposed her “sophisticated” deception.
Felicity Tang pleaded guilty in the Moorabbin Court in December to one charge of obtaining property by deception and one charge of possessing proceeds of crime.
The mother had been working at popular fitness wear brand Lululemon when she swindled a Melbourne store out of $21,338, disguising her thefts through fraudulent refund transactions.
Tang – who cried throughout the court proceeding – conducted the “protracted” scheme over July and August of this year, before a joint investigation with Lululemon and Victoria Police uncovered her deception.
The court heard Tang had directed the funds to different credit cards under her name throughout her offending on “a large number of occasions”.
Tang was sentenced to a 12 month community corrections order with conviction.
She was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work, seek mental health treatment and repay the $21,338 to Lulu Lemon.
Hawa Akbar
An Endeavour Hills woman was busted trying to scam taxpayers out of nearly $50k after working in debt collection at the ATO.
Hawa Akbar, 26, pleaded guilty in Dandenong Court in July to tax fraud after lodging a false statement with the ATO in 2022.
Akbar lodged a Business Activity Statement (BAS) with the ATO on March 7, with a net GST refund of $49,500.
For the three days after she’d lodged her claim, Akbar made several phone calls to the tax office inquiring about when she’d receive the refund.
The money landed in her account on March 16, after which she immediately spent $16,000, before the Commonwealth Bank froze her account due to suspected fraud.
After discovering her bank account had been frozen, Akbar attempted to backtrack, calling the ATO claiming she’d made “a big mistake”.
Akbar later told investigators she had completed the claim on her phone, which had a cracked screen.
“I thought I put $0, but I must have put $50,000 and not realised due to the crack,” she said.
After the Commonwealth Bank had frozen her account, around $30,000 was recovered for the ATO, leaving Akbar with a $19,152 debt.
The court was told Akbar had previously been employed at the ATO in the debt recovery team.
Akbar was sentenced with conviction to a 12-month community corrections order.
She will have to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work and to pay back the remaining $19,000 to the ATO before October 1 of this year.
Michael and Sally Goyne
A Rowville couple has claimed they were “too overwhelmed” to pay their $100,000 tax bill, evading the tax department for five years.
Married couple Michael Goyne, 52, and Sally Goyne, 49, pleaded guilty in Dandenong Magistrates Court on Thursday to tax evasion charges, just 12 years after Michael was convicted for the same crime.
The Australian Taxation Office contacted Michael numerous times after he failed to file a tax and GST statement for five years between 2018 and 2023.
The court heard he owed a total of $95,270 in backdated tax after working as a self-employed bathroom renovator, while school admin manager Sally owed a further $5370.
The Goynes’ lawyer Roland Muller told the court Sally had “trusted Michael” to take care of their tax returns, as she had become unexpectedly pregnant while simultaneously caring for both her parents who were suffering from cancer.
“He didn’t prioritise his tax obligations and she didn’t do an effective job of following up,” Mr Muller said.
He also said the family’s situation combined with a failing business led to Michael feeling “overwhelmed”.
“My client feels a great deal of shame that he’s let his wife and their partnership down,” he said.
Michael was fined $10,000 with conviction, while Sally was put on a six month good behaviour bond with a $500 recognisance cost.
Ahssan Abassi
A Cranbourne man who stole his colleague’s credit card and went on a Chadstone shopping spree with his younger sister has said “prescription medication” made him do it.
Ahssan Abassi pleaded guilty in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on February 29 to theft and obtaining property by deception charges.
The court heard Abassi had been at work in Dandenong South with the victim on December 16 in 2022, both on their lunch break.
The victim left his wallet on the lunch table, when Abassi saw his opportunity and nabbed the victim’s credit card.
Abassi proceeded to go on a more than $500 shopping spree in the southeastern suburbs, including spending up big in luxury stores at Chadstone Shopping Centre.
The court heard Abassi had taken his sister to Melbourne’s largest shopping centre in the evening of December 16, where they spent $259 in David Jones, $65 at cosmetic giant Mecca and $129.95 in Victoria’s Secret.
Abassi also purchased $75.10 of items from a BP servo as well as getting his car washed later in the same evening in Cranbourne.
CCTV footage captured him making the purchases inside Chadstone and BP.
Abassi was convicted and fined $1000 for the offending.