Lachlan Darmanin pleads guilty to obtaining property by deception

A Facebook scammer has been ordered to repay and apologise to the victims he “ripped off”, as well as a mechanic he threatened with violence, a court as heard.

Lachlan Darmanin escaped conviction over a Facebook scam and threatening to assault a mechanic.

A magistrate has told a Facebook scammer who also threatened a mechanic he ought to treat people the way he would like to be treated.

Lachlan Darmanin, 25, fronted Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to two counts each of obtaining property by deception and driving while suspended, and a single count of unlawful assault by putting someone in fear of violence.

The court heard Darmanin’s victim saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a 1969 Holden Monaro on May 11, 2023.

When the man contacted him about the car, Darmanin said he needed a $500 deposit to hold it and the victim and his boss made a payment into Darmanin’s bank account.

However, the payment would take 24 hours to clear, so Darmanin said he couldn’t hold the car and didn’t want to wait – so another $100 was sent, which cleared instantly.

A day later when the $500 payment went through, the victim went to contact Darmanin only to find he’d been blocked and was not contactable.

The court heard Darmanin had withdrawn the money at a Corio ATM.

When he was arrested, Darmainin told police he had been acting in good faith “on behalf of a friend”.

In September last year Darmanin threatened a Drysdale mechanic when he wasn’t happy with repairs made to his car.

The victim refunded Darmanin’s money however Darmanin returned and was verbally abusive, telling him he was “gonna punch your f--king head in”.

Darmanin told police things got “heated” and that both made threats; he recalled asking the victim to “come out the front away from the cameras”.

“I don’t see how that’s actually a threat,” Darmanin told police.

Darmanin also twice drove while his licence was suspended.

His lawyer, Elina Sisley, told the court the offending came at a “bad time” in his life.

“He was in with the wrong crowd, acting as a proxy for another person,” Ms Sisley said, telling the court he also had several mental health diagnoses.

Darmanin had since moved “to get away from this crowd” and was working as a chicken wrangler, the court heard.

Magistrate Gerard Bryant asked Darmanin how he would feel if he was on the receiving end.

“When you purchase things online, particularly from other individuals … you put a lot of faith and trust in the other person,” Mr Bryant said.

“The whole integrity of the marketplace breaks down, when people advertise on the platform and do not deliver.”

Darmanin said he would feel “devastated”.

“I think you need to treat people how you want to be treated yourself,” Mr Bryant said.

He told Darmanin his actions at the mechanic were “the actions of a 13-year-old, not a 23-year-old”.

Mr Bryant placed Darmanin on an undertaking without conviction and ordered he pay $600 in compensation over the Facebook scam as well as $500 to the court fund.

Darmanin was also ordered to write letters of apology, and his licence was suspended for six weeks.

Originally published as Lachlan Darmanin pleads guilty to obtaining property by deception