Upper Yarra
8 Tuesday, 2 August, 2016
Hidden homelessness discussed
5
Mail Covering the Upper Yarra Region of the Yarra Ranges Shire
Cancer fundraiser awarded
A Mail News Group publication
23-25
Sports of all sorts
Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808
Scam hits seniors
& Ga den
FOR ALL YOUR GARDEN & LANDSCAPING NEEDS -SAND-SOIL-MULCH-ROCKS-SLEEPERS-PAVERSPIPES-GATES-CEMENT-POTTING MIX, ETC. DELIVERY ALL AREAS
Warburton Highway, Wesburn 3799
1223503-LB15-16
5967 1367 Your Local Dentist at Wandin
The folk behind Plastic Bag Free Warburton want to see a little more bounce in their Boomerang Bags. Hundreds of the hand-made cloth bags have been released into the community, but they are so desirable, they’re just not boomeranging back to the supermarket and other shops quickly enough. Organisers are hoping a Boomerang Amnesty will see the bags stacked high again so there will always be an alternative to plastic bags for shoppers in Warburton. PBFW say plastic bag use had decreased in the town over the last two months and the project was doing great, but they needed to share the love. “We need these bags back in service for this great idea to work,” she said.
YARRA RANGES 1230175-CG23-16
andscape
Boomerang bags made to go ’round
GAS HEAT & COOL
Faulty Heaters CAUSE
HOUSE FIRES
Welcomes
Pop in and say hello Phone 5967 2001
PIC 41936
Ph: 5966 9999 CHECK UP CLEAN & 2X-RAYS WITH FLUORIDE FOR ONLY
Computer Colour Matching
2874 Warburton Hwy Wesburn
160
$
COMPLIMENTARY FLUORIDE TREATMENT USUALLY WORTH $300
By Wattyl New Look Ceiling White Kid tough, resists mould & mildew is also low VOC 4Lt $55 & Low Odour 4Lt $45 Low Sheen
to the team.
Get Yours Serviced Now ARC 36010
New Look Made
Keith Thorne 1235161-DJ29-16
YARRA VALLEY
IGA Store owner Shane Wyles and customer Lachlan Train are supporting the Boomerang Bag Amnesty. 156502 Picture: ROB CAREW
1227992-FA20-16
A MILLGROVE man has escaped jail, but will do 300 hours of community work for his part in a scam which fleeced elderly victims of nearly $100,000. Kirk V. Martin, 44, was sentenced on Friday 29 July at the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court after earlier pleading guilty to more than 100 charges of obtaining property by deception. The charges were the result of a complex investigation headed up by Acting Detective Sergeant Rod Newbery of Yarra Ranges Criminal Investigation Unit, with ongoing investigations linked to the scam also underway by the Major Fraud Squad in Western Australia. The court, before Magistrate Michael Wighton, heard that during 2015 Martin was a knowing and willing participant in the scam which involved victims being contacted by a woman known as “Lisa” who gained personal details, either by hacking into their accounts or over the phone, on the pretext she was from Centrelink. Their victims include pensioners and retirees in their late sixties through to an 89-year-old Sydney pensioner. Amounts taken from the five victims, that police know of, range from $14,000 to $36,640. In his police statement, Martin claimed he had been contacted by ‘Lisa’ out of the blue and told he owed money which led to him setting up bank accounts into which money would be transferred from the victims’ accounts. ADS Newbery said the scam was sophisticated and executed in a way designed to avoid suspicion. He said ‘Lisa’, using information gained, would set up an online banking account on the victim’s bank account and transfer amounts, always under $1000, into one of Martin’s accounts.
He would then go to the bank and withdraw the same amount from an ATM, take some for himself as payment and put the rest into an account linked to ‘Lisa’ and her partners. Arguing for a Community Corrections Order, Martin’s defence lawyer, Mark Rawson, said he had done everything to assist police and said a forensic psychology supported the proposition that Martin was vulnerable, gullible and not able to cope well with being put under pressure. “It would appear this is a fairly well-organised operation,” he said. “Some of these funds have been funnelled into Asia, so it could be a bigger operation than originally thought.” Mr Wighton said this type of online theft was a growing problem for the community and in relation to both the way Martin was recruited, and the way the victims were taken advantage of, likened the major players as similar to car thieves who test handles and keep going until they find one that’s unlocked. He said Martin’s actions were extremely serious offences and said while there was a claim of gullibility, he knew it was wrong and did it anyway. Ordering Martin be assessed for a CCO, Mr Wighton said while taking into account significant issues raised about Martin’s childhood the charges were serious, large in number and involved the theft of a significant amount of money stolen from a large number of vulnerable people. He said while Martin was charged with knowingly and willingly participating in a much bigger scheme, knowing and willing was one of the issues in imposing a sentence that would be a specific deterrent to Martin, and a general deterrent. Continued page 3
1191831-HM30-15
By KATH GANNAWAY
OPEN: MON-FRI 6.30am-5.00pm•SAT 8.00am-12.00noon
9737 6833
24d John St., LILYDALE
NEW OFFERS FOR 2016! Conditions Apply
Ph: 596 42129
6b/2Union Rd Wandin North