How Jasmine Vella-Arpaci slew millions of hardworking Australians

A Melbourne woman has been jailed for her role in a cybercrime syndicate that stole millions of dollars from innocent Australians.

Jasmine Vella-Arpaci, 24, admitted playing a central role in the fraudulent scheme targeting pension and stock trading accounts.

The syndicate managed to scam $3.238 million while there were other attempts to get $1.8 million from superfunds and $5.7 million in stocks.

Stolen funds were deposited into newly opened bank accounts and debit cards sent to false addresses in Hong Kong, laundering $2.5 million.

Vella-Arpaci’s role involved setting up a phishing scam to access account credentials, targeting administrator, HR and accountant usernames in hopes of accessing account details and pension insurance identification documents.

Judge Todd said Ms Vella-Arpaci’s “phishing,” which consisted of tricking people into entering their personal information through Google advertisements resembling their super companies, was “elaborate and sophisticated.”

Jasmine Vella-Arpaci, 24, (pictured) was part of an international fraud syndicate that stole millions of Australian pension and equity accounts

The Australian Federal Police and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission began investigating the syndicate in late 2018.

Vella-Arpaci was arrested at Melbourne Airport in April 2019 while returning to Australia from Turkey.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and one charge of conspiracy to traffic in the proceeds of crime in Victorian County Court last month.

She was sentenced Friday to five years and six months in prison, with four years without parole.

Friends and family of Ms Vella-Arpaci, who sat silently throughout her sentencing hearing with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes intently on Judge Fiona Todd, shed tears in court as the verdict was announced.

The victims, whose names are being withheld by court order, included a couple in their late 80s and early 90s and another whose domestic worker was razed to the ground a year before she retired.

The court heard that Ms Vella-Arpaci was living with her child’s now-imprisoned husband at the time of the crime and financially supported his gambling addiction.

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Todd said Ms Vella-Arpaci was not living a “luxurious existence.”

She said Vella-Arpaci, who attended Rosehill Secondary College in Niddrie, Victoria, had become a frequent user of Valium, Xanax and benzodiazepines, sometimes taking up to 10 pills a day to help manage her anxiety.

Welcoming the ruling, Australia’s Revenue Commissioner and head of the Serious Financial Crimes Task Force, John Ford, said police will continue to crack down on cybercrimes.

The syndicate managed to scam $3.238 million while there were other attempts to get $1.8 million from superfunds and $5.7 million in stocks. Pictured is Vella-Arpaci in court today

Stolen funds were deposited into newly opened bank accounts and debit cards sent to false addresses in Hong Kong, laundering $2.5 million. Pictured is Vella-Arpaci in court today

“Today’s result shows that for those trying to cheat the system, especially at the expense of others, there really is nowhere to hide,” Ford said Friday.

“We will act decisively.”