Adarsh Kottur pleads guilty to theft, obtaining property by deception

An elderly North Geelong woman fell victim to a “syndicate” that tricked victims into handing over their bank cards and scamming them out of thousands of dollars, a court heard.

Adarsh Kottur appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday facing 13 charges related to a series of scams targeting the elderly.

An elderly North Geelong woman was targeted by crooks posing as technical support and scammed out of thousands of dollars.

Ardash Kottur, 29, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including four counts of theft and nine counts of obtaining property by deception.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Kiley Gray told the court Kottur, an Indian national, currently in Australia on a student visa, was believed to be “part of a broader syndicate of offenders”.

Senior Constable Gray said the victims were all elderly people, targeted “due to their vulnerability” and limited understanding of technology

The scammers tricked their victims into handing over bank cards, and stole large sums of money.

The court heard one victim, a 73-year-old North Geelong woman received a call on May 7, 2024, from a man purporting to be working for Microsoft.

The man told the woman she was being targeted by hackers, and advised her to download a remote desktop application.

She was also told her debit card had been cancelled, and someone would attend her address to collect it.

That someone was Kottur, who the court heard arrived at the woman’s home the next day and picked it up.

Kottur used the card to withdraw $1000 at a Commonwealth Bank ATM in Geelong West, and then $1000 from a National Australia Bank (NAB) ATM at Wyndham Village Shopping Centre.

The woman became suspicious the following day and reported the incident to her bank and later the police.

On June 13, Kottur’s Truganina home was raided when police were investigating another man for similar offending against a 92-year-old woman.

During the raid, Kottur was recognised by one of the officers from CCTV footage from Wyndham Village and interviewed. 

Kottur told officers he had been given him a bank card by a co-accused and asked him to withdraw $1000 “as a favour “, the court heard.

Kottur said he noticed the name on the card wasn’t his co-accused’s, “which he thought was suspicious”, the court heard, and told his co-accused he wouldn’t do it again.

He was released pending further inquiries, which revealed he had a much greater role in the scheme.

WhatsApp messages and Optus phone records placed Kottur in North Geelong, Geelong West and Hoppers Crossing at the relevant times of the theft and subsequent withdrawals.

The WhatsApp messages revealed Kottur’s involvement in other thefts and further victims across Melbourne, including a 67-year-old from Kilsyth, an 85-year-old from Noble Park and a 90-year-old from Mount Waverley.

The pair made withdrawals and also made Western Union transfers.

The matter was stood down, and on resumption Kottur was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order (CCO) including 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to repay $6000 in total to four victims.

Kottur has lodged an appeal against the sentence.

Originally published as Adarsh Kottur pleads guilty to theft, obtaining property by deception