Rosa Rossi admits to using position in Victoria Police to steal homes across the state
Rosa Rossi has admitted some of the shocking ways she used her high ranking position in Victoria Police to help her steal multiple homes across Victoria during an 18-month long crime spree.
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A decorated police sergeant has admitted to fraud and perjury after she was busted using her badge and position in the force to steal homes across the state.
Sgt Rosa Rossi deceived locksmiths during an 18-month crime spree, ordering tradesman to change the locks on five houses, allowing her to illegally obtain the vacant properties.
The senior officer has also admitted to attempting to lease a stolen home in Brooklyn to an unsuspecting tenant.
Sgt Rossi, a high ranking police member who was awarded a group citation medal for merit, had earlier stated she was looking forward to her day in court so that she could tell her side of the story.
But today the policewoman remained silent as the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard she would plead guilty to ten offences on the morning her committal trial was set to begin.
The independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission charged Sgt Rossi after discovering she had ordered locksmiths to change the locks on houses in Brooklyn, Chadstone and regional Victoria between April 2016 and February 2017.
Sgt Rossi pleaded guilty to five counts of obtaining property by deception and defrauding the Commonwealth by receiving “rent assistance” payments she was not entitled to.
She has also admitted to using the Victoria Police database to access restricted information and making false statements about her identity and address.
Ten charges, including theft and lying to council workers were withdrawn by prosecutors.
It comes as another senior policeman charged by IBAC admitted he lied to anti-corruption investigators about his relationship with Sgt Rossi.
Inspector David Manly falsely told investigators he had destroyed a mobile phone he used exclusively to contact his friend and colleague.
This was discovered to be a lie, with the phone reactivated six days after he claimed to have discarded it.
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Manly, 74, claimed he deliberately perjured himself because he was worried his wife would find out he had been texting another woman.
Digital forensic analysis of the SIM card later found Insp Manly and Sgt Rossi had contacted each other 389 times between 2012 and 2016.
He will return to court for a plea hearing in December, with prosecutors indicating they will not be pushing for a jail term.
Sgt Rossi remains on bail and will return to court in April for a plea hearing.