Principal predator Malka Leifer and ‘schoolgirl’ conwoman Samantha Azzopardi shared ‘kiss’ behind bars
One of Australia’s most notorious con artists - who was jailed for posing as a sex-trafficked teen schoolgirl - has struck up a concerning relationship behind bars.
One of Australia’s most prolific conwomen — best known for her twisted portrayal of a vulnerable “schoolgirl” — has struck up a relationship with an ex-principal predator while behind bars at a maximum security prison in Melbourne.
Samantha Azzopardi, 36, was jailed for two years last October for posing as a 17-year-old sex-trafficked schoolgirl from Belgium named Hattie Leigh and collecting more than $20,000 meant for victims of domestic violence.
She has previously spent time behind bars for a series of high-profile cons and child stealing and was the subject of the documentary Con Girl in 2023.
News.com.au can exclusively reveal that while imprisoned at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on Melbourne’s outskirts, Azzopardi has formed a relationship with notorious ex-principal paedophile, Malka Leifer, 58.
An inmate who shared a cell with Azzopardi, who asked not to be named, said the pair — with an age gap of 22 years — have been writing each other secret notes and shared a kiss in front of inmates and prison officers on at least one occasion.
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“How f***ing wild is this,” said the former inmate, who spoke to news.com.au on condition of anonymity.
“Her best friend in there is the one and only Malka Leifer.”
Leifer, the former principal of the ultra-orthodox Jewish Adass Israel School in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick, was jailed for 15 years in August 2023 for sexually abusing two students in her care.
Her accusers, sisters Nicole Meyer, Elly Sapper and Dassi Erlich, came forward with abuse claims dating back to 2003. They claimed Leifer sexually abused them on campus, in her home and on school camps.
A County Court jury found Leifer guilty of abusing Ms Erlich and Ms Sapper but cleared her of charges relating to Ms Meyer.
The prisoner, who was locked down in the protection unit with Azzopardi, Leifer and other high-profile inmates, left prison earlier this year. She said Azzopardi and Leifer were very close.
“(Azzopardi) allowed Malka to kiss her on one occasion on the lips, very strange stuff,” she said.
She said the kiss happened in late 2024 after Azzopardi abandoned plans to appeal her sentence.
“The day Sam’s appeal got thrown out, she came back sad. Crying. She’s come back in, had a breakdown and went into full meltdown mode. Scratching at her neck. It’s all red. Hands on her knees. Can’t breathe.
“Malka comes along, hugs her, grabs her by the face and just kissed her. Everyone was there. Other inmates saw it, I saw it, an officer saw it.
“Sam looked shocked and said, ‘What are you doing Malka?’ And Malka just looked confused.”
The inmate said the pair would exchange “secret notes” with one-another and argue loudly in the laundry.
“The laundry is the only place you can go to be together as there are no cameras,” she said.
She said that on other occasions Malka would leave gifts for Azzopardi and the pair would do each other favours.
“Malka was a loner, she used to sit in her room a lot. Sam came along and started roping her in, sharing gossip. Taking her washing off the line. Then Malka would cut up fruit for Sam and leave fruit bags for her in her fridge.”
Disturbingly, the former inmate said Leifer “gave Samantha a parole address to use” and “overheard Malka talking to Sam about going to live in Israel with her family”.
“The whole relationship was weird from the start. When Sam initially came in, she had Malka wrapped around her finger in days. Malka was looking for someone to groom, Sam looking for someone to con. Sam acts young, that’s the type of girl Malka likes.”
‘Azzopardi nearly ruined my life’
The former inmate first met Azzopardi in 2020 after the cunning conwoman was jailed for child stealing while working as an au pair. She had taken a 10-month-old girl and a four-year-old girl from Melbourne to country Victoria without their parents’ knowledge.
While imprisoned at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, the former inmate and Azzopardi initially hit it off.
“I believed all of her bullshit,” she said.
The former inmate told news.com.au that Azzopardi initially told prisoners her name was Lyndsay and that she was the daughter of an international airline pilot — something which was not true.
“She had us believing she was 21 years old. It’s f***ing out of control. I’m really angry at her because I had a partner inside and she started so many problems with us. She did some of the craziest things.”
The former inmate said Azzopardi “nearly ruined my life” in prison by spreading rumours about her relationship with another inmate.
“People turned against me. My relationship with my partner in prison ended because of her.”
Azzopardi’s bizarre behaviour is of course nothing new.
If you search the name Samantha Azzopardi on the internet, you get stories from publications around the world. Her antics are so bizarre that she even appeared in a book titled The Confidence Game, written by New York Times author Maria Konnikova.
Her first notable incident with police happened in Dublin where authorities spent £200,000 ($386,000) trying to identify her. Her story made international news.
In late 2014, she landed in Calgary telling a different story under a different name. She was Aurora Hepburn now, and she was trying to start a new life.
She was charged with public mischief and deported back to Australia after spending two months in custody.
Back in her home country she once again created a new life for herself. She has since been before the courts on more than 10 occasions for various cons under various aliases.
One of Ms Azzopardi’s childhood friends, Juanita Levi, previously told news.com.au the young woman from Campbelltown in Sydney’s south was always stretching the truth.
Ms Levi said she told people in high school she was Lindsay Lohan. When the movie Freaky Friday came out, Azzopardi allegedly died her hair to match the Hollywood star.
“She was a really smart student, she always did her work and was conscientious. She had a small circle of friends (and) I guess she was a bit of an attention seeker. She would walk out of class sometimes and the teacher would have to go after her.”
In her book, Konnikova explores why people fall for elaborate lies.
“When we’re immersed in a story we let our guard down. We focus in a way we wouldn’t if someone were just trying to catch us with a random phrase or picture or interaction.”
That’s what Azzopardi’s former prison roommate did when she arrived at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. She now knows better.
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