Four month trial for alleged bank fraudster
The 34-year-old is facing 116 fraud charges after allegedly scamming her customers to fund her lavish lifestyle.
National
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A glamorous former St George bank employee has asked for her trial to be shortened, as she continues to fight allegations she swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from her customers.
Sara Daizli is facing 118 charges after she allegedly used her role at the bank to transfer customers’ funds into fake accounts and to fake customers between February 2016 and December 2018.
Ms Daizli allegedly used the funds to fund her lavish lifestyle, with her Instagram page flooded with photos of designer clothes, handbags and private jet trips.
The 34-year-old denies the charges, however, faced the NSW District Court on Tuesday in a bid to reduce the four-month estimate of the trial which was set to begin on February 3.
Ms Daizli’s lawyer argued his client was unable to afford the legal costs associated with a trial of that length.
“She will either need time to prepare a financial plan or to vacate the trial date,” her lawyer said.
Her lawyer also requested to be heard on the possibility of a judge-only trial.
Judge Julia Baly said she would not make a decision without the two co-accused men in the matter also present – standing the matter over until January 29.
“Then we can have all the points and all the prayers,” Judge Baly said.
The crown prosecutor told the court the case was “highly complex” and, however, would work to deliver the court a summarised version of the current case, in hopes of reducing the trial length by half.
“We will work expeditiously to get it done,” he said.
The court was previously told Ms Daizli allegedly approached customers and offered to give them a better rate on a loan before “skimming off the top” of their payment without their knowledge.
She is also accused of making fraudulent loan applications to both St George and ANZ banks.
Prosecutors allege she was depositing cash payments of $10,000 into her bank account during the two years she worked for St George.
The court was also previously told one of the main alleged victims is a woman in her 80s who had thousands of dollars transferred out of her account through internet banking, which she had never used.
Ms Daizli befriended the woman and brought her meals and gifts while allegedly funnelling money out of her superannuation account.
Ms Daizli is on bail under strict conditions, which include a $1,050,000 surety to guarantee she appears in court when required.
She is also facing civil proceedings brought by Westpac Bank in relation to her alleged fraud.
Originally published as Four month trial for alleged bank fraudster
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