Mahir Pasalic, 28, in court after identity theft, retail fraud at Adelaide stores

A man’s clever way of manipulating eftpos machines to steal high-end items from Adelaide stores has been revealed in court.

A Mansfield Park man arrested with an axe, ice pipe and a number of fake IDs was “distracting” shop owners and “manipulating” eftpos machines to steal luxury items, a court has heard.

Mahir Pasalic, 28, appeared in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday “embarrassed” by his own actions that left one small business nearly $4000 out of pocket after it had two drones stolen over two days in early 2023.

In front of Magistrate Paul Semmens, a police prosecutor submitted Pasalic entered Adelaide Micro Drones, in Rosewater, and took a drone valued at $1800 to the checkout.

“He has entered a bank card into the eftpos machine and allegedly distracted the witness by asking for a plastic bag,” they said. “The witness has observed (Pasalic) take hold of the eftpos machine who appeared to press some numbers and he was given a printout of the receipt.

“The following day, (Pasalic) was in the store and selected another drone valued at $2100 and he’s paid for the item using the same method.

“The witness observed the machine was able to be manipulated by pressing ‘back’ and selecting ‘other’, and the receipt provided was a print out of what had been scanned; not the invoice. As a result, the defendant didn’t make any payment for the two items.”

Mahir Pasalic appeared in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday. Picture: Instagram

The court heard the store was now seeking compensation for the $3900 worth of stolen items.

It also heard Pasalic had, a month earlier, stolen $635 worth of items from Elite Bags, in Hollywood Plaza – including four watches, two bags, two necklaces and 20 rings.

Pasalic pleaded guilty to dishonestly take property without consent, identity theft, and driving, deception procure and unlawful possession charges.

Upon his eventual arrest in December 2024, the court heard police located him in possession of an axe, ice pipe, five drivers’ licences belonging to different people and two Medicare cards in someone else’s name.

Defence counsel, for Pasalic, asked Mr Semmens to suspend the sentence – submitting their client was “embarrassed” by his offending and had “really had time to reflect” since his arrest.

Mr Semmens noted Pasalic’s extensive criminal history – including a previous jail term for “dishonesty offences”.

“What’s left in the armoury?” he asked. “I’m running out of options. He’s had five years to consider his actions in the community.

“The community needs to be protected because the deceptions are particularly sneaky and manipulative.”

Pasalic was remanded on continuing bail and will return to court next month for sentencing.

Originally published as Mahir Pasalic, 28, in court after identity theft, retail fraud at Adelaide stores