Australia’s real-life Catch Me if You Can fraudster dons thousands of dollars worth of designer drip as she lands back in court accused of another elaborate identity scam

EXCLUSIVE

Australia’s elusive con-queen Cindy De Waij has appeared in court in glamourous designer wear after she was charged with fresh fraud offences.

De Waij, 41, fronted a Melbourne court on Wednesday charged with 64 offences including multiple counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

It’s alleged De Waij, who has attempted to keep her identity a mystery, ripped off numerous victims between October 2023 and August last year.

The court heard allegations De Waij rorted $167,000 via a Catch Me If You Can-style fraud racket which included the use of fake and suspected stolen identities.

De Waij, who was also charged with attempted fraud and dealing with the proceeds of crime, was allegedly nabbed with stacks of suspected stolen IDs including digital passport copies, bank cards and driver’s licences.

De Waij, who snapped outside court in a glamourous outfit paired with Ray Ban Aviators, $1200 Gianvito Rossi Plexi patent leather pumps and a $3000 Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 handbag, allegedly used other people’s ID to take out large loans. 

Police alleged De Waij’s highest individual theft was $15,000 but she had attempted many more including a Citibank loan for $23,500.

The court heard De Waij has relevant prior offending and had served six months in prison in 2021 for fraud.

Cindy De Waij (pictured) was snapped outside court with Ray Ban Aviators, $1200 Gianvito Rossi Plexi patent leather pumps and a $3000 Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 handbag

De Waij first came under real police scrutiny five years ago when cops discovered the secret lair where she operated her former forgery and fraud empire.

The con artist had converted a South Melbourne storage unit into a base to create fake IDs and bogus documents which she used to dupe various women out of cash. 

It was discovered in early 2020 but De Waij managed to remain on the loose and committed fraud in a similar manner to how Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Frank Abagnale Jr got away with it in the film Catch Me If You Can. 

De Waij assumed her victims’ identities to take out bank loans and order credit cards, leaving the women with giant debts, during her crime spree between October 2019 and April 2021.

De Waij also allegedly used a Melbourne woman’s identity to take out a $17,000 bank loan and order a $4500 Citibank credit card. 

The glamourous thief used the ill-gotten gains on luxury accommodation, designer clothes and accessories, and drugs.

Storage facility management alerted police after breaking into De Waij’s cage and discovering her den of fraud.

Among the illicit items was sophisticated equipment and material De Waij used to doctor and produce false identities. 

De Waij, 41, fronted a Melbourne court on Wednesday charged with 64 offences including multiple counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception

De Waij allegedly operates in a similar manner to how Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Frank Abagnale Jr got away with it in the film Catch Me If You Can (pictured)

Authorities seized a massive haul of passports, driver’s licences, Medicare cards and folders containing tax and foreign bank statements.

Bogus documents and IDs and an identity doctored with fraudulently obtained Victoria Police stamps were also located.

De Waij, who was linked to the lair via CCTV and a seized pen, had been arrested in December 2020 for other fraud allegations.

However, De Waij failed to tell police about the cage so the full extent of her villainy wasn’t yet known.  

Cops closed in on De Waij after a victim discovered the fraudster had booked a bogus stay at her Airbnb apartment.

De Waij was hauled off by the cops but the woman later realised her notebook, which contained personal details, was missing.

Just days later the woman received communication about attempted credit card and mobile phone plan applications.

De Waij (right) leaves court with her lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson (left)

But sneaky De Waij initally slipped through the police net but was eventually caught in a sting operation in April 2021.

The woman monitored De Waij after the fraudster spent $11,500 on the victim’s credit card.

The victim tracked a Jadore Hair products order to a post office in Melbourne’s inner south.

The woman waited to pounce after the post office manager said the Jadore had been collected but another delivery of knee high boots, a Michael Kors watch and Yves Saint Laurent sunglasses was ready for collection.

This information was passed onto police who were waiting for De Waij when she returned to the post office to collect the items.

At first, she gave police a false name and claimed to be picking up the package for a friend.

But cops pressed further, and she eventually confessed to her criminality, telling police she learned to carefully doctor photo IDs and falsify documents via the dark web.

‘They’re just details you can get on the dark web and stuff,’ De Waij told police during her 2021 interview.

De Waij left court after being warned she faced a jail term

‘I just needed to not be me, I can’t help it.’

Police also found a diary which allegedly outlined where De Waij planned to stay under a particular stolen identity. 

At Wednesday’s court hearing, the prosecution submitted the total amount involved in the alleged fraud was a ‘substantial figure’ but made no application to have De Waij’s matter heard at a higher court.

It was also determined De Waij’s matter will be handled in the Magistrates’ Court so her allegations will never go before a jury.

The court heard any potential sentence for De Waij is well in the range of that lower court.

Zarah Garde-Wilson, who appeared for De Waij, had made an application for a sentence indication but secured an adjournment after Magistrate William Parker said he would send her client back to jail immediately.

The summary of accusations, De Waij’s criminal priors and a psychological report had earlier been handed to Magistrate Parker.

During a 2021 court hearing, Magistrate Fiona Hayes said De Waij was ‘essentially a con-artist’.

De-Waij was jailed for a maximum 18 months but it was knocked down to four months on appeal in February 2022.

She will face court on the new charges at a later date. 

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