Man Guilty Of Credit Card Scam

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday September 14, 2005

By ANDREW DRUMMOND

AN illegal Malaysian immigrant has admitted involvement in a fake credit card scam in Sydney and Wollongong.

Kiet Tan, 23, yesterday entered guilty pleas via an interpreter in Wollongong Local Court.

Tan's working visa expired on April 26 and he has been in custody since his arrest . He appeared in court yesterday via audio visual link.

The court heard that on July 9 in Sydney, Tan gave two women false Visa cards, showing fake names and signatures, then drove them to Wollongong to go shopping.

The women bought items using the fake credit cards, then handed the goods to Tan.

In return, Tan paid them 10 per cent of the retail price of the stolen items.

The women bought $669 worth of perfume from Myer Wollongong, an $809 mobile phone from Allphones, and an iPod and Mac photo equipment from Dick Smith Electronics valued at $499.

At each shop, Tan stayed close to the women and took the goods as soon as they had been purchased.

The scam came unstuck when one of the fake credit cards was declined by Crazy John's.

When the women returned to Myer they were recognised by security guards and ran from the store.

The guards caught the three in a Church St car park and called police.

Officers searched Tan's car and found the stolen goods and fake credit cards, along with a list of NSW shops.

"Certain shops had been crossed off the list and the remaining stores had map reference numbers written next to them," Magistrate Paul Johnson said.

Tan was charged with possessing stolen goods, using fake credit cards and obtaining advantage by deception.

He originally denied any involvement in the scam. The two women made full admissions.

Yesterday Tan changed his plea.

He denied handing the cards to the women but was aware of what they were doing, Mr Johnson said.

Tan will be sentenced next week.

© 2005 Illawarra Mercury

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