The girlfriend in online ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ scamming duo duped her disabled husband into thinking her obscene cash flow was legitimate, and enjoyed a love affair with her younger boyfriend behind his back.
Angela Greer, 52, and her boyfriend Michael Tozer, 42, scammed almost $2 million in a fraudulent online shopping scheme spanning seven years.
Greer carried out the fraudulent operation behind the back of her unsuspecting husband of 22 years, who is a pensioner confined to a wheelchair in Bendigo, Victoria.
Michael Tozer (pictured right with partner Angela Greer) scammed $950,000 out of online shoppers to feed the couple’s lifestyle
Greer made him believe she was a high-flying businesswoman, who travelled endlessly for work.
Meanwhile, she was gallivanting around the world with her younger boyfriend, Tozer, who created thousands of fake accounts on PayPal, eBay and Gumtree to scam millions of dollars.
Detective Sergeant Brad McLeish said Greer carried out the operation under the nose of her husband.
‘She would fly him to stay in hotels around Australia and overseas but what he didn’t realise was that his wife’s scammer lover was staying at the same hotel in another room,’ he told A Current Affair on Monday.
Det Sgt McLeish said Greer’s husband was completely in the dark about his wife’s seven-year crime spree.
They used the money to splash out on lengthy stays hotels and lavish trips (pictured: Greer with a wad of US notes)
The pair boasted of lavish overseas holidays and luxury goods including Louis Vuitton bags, Gianni Versace and Rolex watches, on their social media accounts
Det Sgt McLeish said the sheer size of the pair’s fraudulent operation was uncovered when the couple was arrested at the Cairns Shangri-La Hotel in August 2016.
Officers found more than 1100 bank accounts, 700 of which were in Tozer’s name and the rest under alias names.
Det Sgt McLeish said some accounts were in the names of family members, whose identities they had stolen.
‘From all those bank accounts you could just see PayPal money pouring into them,’ he said.
The pair also made no attempt to hide the dirty money.
Officers found a stash of jewellery (pictured) inside the hotel room when they burst in in 2016
They boasted of lavish overseas holidays and luxury goods on their social media accounts – even expensive cars with personalised number plates (pictured)
They boasted of lavish overseas holidays and luxury goods including Louis Vuitton bags, Gianni Versace and Rolex watches, on their social media accounts.
The pair’s glamorous lifestyle came to an end when officers raided their hotel room and uncovered overwhelming evidence including $3,000 in cash.
Officers also discovered six mobile phones and three diaries used to record their fraudulent activity.
Det Sgt McLeish said details of the pair’s online trading operation very quickly unravelled.
The pair’s glamorous lifestyle came to an end when officers raided their hotel room and uncovered overwhelming evidence including $3,000 in cash and designer items (pictured)
The pair’s glamorous lifestyle came to an end when officers raided their hotel room and uncovered overwhelming evidence including cards and records of their operation
He said Tozer created thousands of fake buyer and seller accounts on websites including eBay and Gumtree.
‘The fake buyer would purchase [an item] and when it never arrived, the fake buyer would make a claim and PayPal would compensate him for the item that never existed,’ Det Sgt McLeish said.
‘He (Tozer) was ultimately caught red handed in possession of all of the tainted property,’ Crown Prosecutor Melanie Franklin said in court.
His lawyer claimed Tozer always had an interest in maths but the scam was not too advanced.
‘What’s said to be sophisticated is just basic transactions. There’s just so many of them,’ Defence barrister Peter Feeney told the court.
Greer refused to comment, or apologise for her crimes when confronted by reporters near Cairns this week, where she was spending time at a luxury resort
The pair’s glamorous lifestyle came to an end when officers raided their hotel room and uncovered overwhelming evidence including $3,000 in cash and luxury items (pictured)
Tozer took responsibility for masterminding the operation and pleaded guilty to fraud and dishonestly obtaining $950,000 from PayPal.
He was jailed for eight years and will be eligible for parole next March.
Greer pleaded guilty to five counts of identity theft and was sentenced to three months behind bars. She has already walked free.
Greer refused to comment, or apologise for her crimes when confronted by reporters north of Cairns this week, where she was spending time at a luxury resort.
Det Sgt McLeish said Greer’s husband had since divorced her and wanted to move on with his life.