One of three fraudsters who tried to use fake bank cards to get money out of Wodonga ATMs has pleaded guilty, and his two alleged co-accused are close to following suit.
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NSW Police and Victoria Police major fraud squads were continuing to investigate the overall operation, but Daniel Singh, 33, and Tarek Hamze, 33, appeared in Wodonga Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to face up to crimes from when they were caught red-handed at Wodonga Plaza on May 26.
Singh was one of the lower players in the group, but remains the only one in custody because he refused to sign in at a police station each day, which was a condition of his bail.
He pleaded guilty to the theft of $800 from an ATM and 20 failed attempts to withdraw various amount of cash from $50 to $450.
The scheme involved using a cloning device to transfer details the criminals purchased from “skimmers”, who scanned credit card information of unknowing victims, putting them onto “load-and-go” gift cards.
Barrister Sally Wilson said discussions were still continuing with the prosecution over the charges faced by Hamze and Saad Samad, 47, who was the accused ringleader and was allegedly caught with $19,854 in cash when arrested.
The pair remained on bail in Sydney after paying $50,000 and $100,000 sureties respectively.
“It’s such an expense (to travel to Wodonga for court) when they’ve surrendered such a huge amount on the surety,” Ms Wilson said.
Singh did not apply for bail and will remain in custody until the trio’s case is heard again on August 23.