Conman who stole $100K from small business owners says jailing him will have ‘fatal consequences’

Fraudster Samuel Tessa sent a fierce warning to the judge as he was sentenced to time behind bars on Thursday for scamming small business owners out of $100k.

A fraudster who scammed unwitting small businesses out of nearly $100,000 by selling them invalid insurance policies has claimed the decision to throw him in the slammer will have “fatal consequences”.

Samuel Tessa, 55, was sentenced in the County Court on Thursday to two years and 10 months behind bars after a jury in December found him guilty of five counts of obtaining property by deception and two counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

From 2011 to 2017, the conman “dishonestly represented” himself as an insurance broker while he operated his sham company, Review Financial Services.

Judge Felicity Hampel said Tessa exploited his five victims, who were all looking for low-cost insurance as small businesses in the car repair industry.

“You were not an insurance broker,” she said.

“You were the sole operator of a scam.”

But Tessa – in an angry outburst from the dock – protested he should be spared jail because he is a carer for his elderly mum and financially provides for his 22-year-old son.

“If I am punished unjustly, an 87-year-old lady will face fatal consequences,” he said.

“She solely relies on me.”

Elwood man Samuel Tessa scammed small businesses out of nearly $100,000.

The Elwood man also claimed his son will be forced to quit his university degree and “might end up on the streets” without his support.

But Judge Hampel said she had no choice but to sentence Tessa – who she labelled the “architect of the fake insurance scheme” – to a term of imprisonment.

“Your mother will no doubt be adversely affected if you are unable to provide daily care for her but she lives independently,” she said.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that she will be unable to access the support you have provided elsewhere.

“And there’s no evidence to support your assertion the consequences for her if you were imprisoned … would be fatal.”

While she handed down her sentence, the scammer interrupted her multiple times and on one occasion shouted “do not call me a liar”.

The court heard one Dandenong business was duped into paying Tessa $30,000 after the fake broker told the owner the money would provide him with insurance coverage.

The owner of another Dandenong business – who was swindled out of more than $40,000 – said he feels “anxiety and shame” for wrongly telling his clients he was insured.

“When Mr Tessa lied to me, he made me a liar,” he wrote in a victim impact statement.

“How do I hold my head up as a man of honour?”

An investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – which led to Tessa’s arrest in December 2017 – revealed he never held an Australian financial services licence to conduct an insurance-related business.

He had applied for the licence twice but his applications were rejected because they lacked the necessary details.

His business was also not appropriately authorised, which meant his victims did not hold genuine insurance coverage despite having paid premiums.

Tessa, who represented himself, told the court at his plea hearing that he believed he was wrongly convicted because he was “practising legally”.

“The court needs to understand that I am the victim here,” he said.

“It is ASIC who made me a liar and they continue to do so.”

But Judge Hampel said the evidence he did not hold a licence was “overwhelming”.

He will be eligible for parole in one year and eight months.