A man who allegedly fleeced elderly women at NSW shopping centres has been extradited from Western Australia to face court on Saturday.
Vasile Bombonel, 38, stands accused of several offences, following reports to police that a number of people worked in an alleged $100,000 scam which involved an individual person approach a shopper and tell them they had dropped cash or their wallet.
“When the person opened their wallet to check, a second person in the group allegedly stole their bank cards, which were later used to conduct fraudulent transactions,” police claimed in a statement on Saturday morning.
The alleged scammers targeted the elderly, particularly elderly women, at shopping centres across the state, police said.
“To date, police have received reports for 39 incidents from the South Coast to Grafton, and several suburbs across Sydney, with more than $100,000 in proceeds stolen.”
On Friday night, Bombonel was picked up at Perth Airport, where he was extradited by two detectives to NSW.
He was taken to Mascot Police Station and charged with a raft of offences, including nine counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Vision of his arrest released by NSW Police shows him repeatedly giving the camera the thumbs up and waving as he is escorted through Sydney’s domestic terminal in handcuffs by two detectives.
As he gets into the police car to be transported to be charged, he waves at the camera.
Bombonel was refused bail by police and is expected to appear in Bail Court on Saturday.
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