Man charged after allegedly selling fake leather jackets for hundreds of dollars
He claimed to be the marketing director for Italian fashion house Versace when he allegedly approached customers in Bunnings car parks across Sydney offering genuine leather jackets at heavily discounted prices.
The man introduced himself as Raffaele Marseglia and his offer seemed too good to be true: high-end leather jackets on sale after they were leftover from a fashion show and couldn't be returned overseas due to a high tax imposed on the luxury goods.
He allegedly sold them from the back of a rented white Audi and one Sydney man bought seven of them for $1000.
But police say the jackets are "worthless". Made of sheepskin and PVC the items are valued at somewhere closer to $50.
And police allege the man claiming to be Raffaele Marseglia is actually Ciro Gallo, who arrived in Sydney on a tourist visa from Italy in February. They arrested Mr Gallo in Revesby in Sydney's south-west on Wednesday and searched his unit in inner-west Five Dock, where they seized 22 jackets, fake business cards and cash.
Police allege Mr Gallo sold fake leather jackets for hundreds of dollars. Credit:NSW Police
Police are now investigating if this alleged scam is linked to similar rackets across Australia and overseas.
The target of the alleged scam is men in their 60s.
"His [modus operandi] was that he approached people in car parks and shopping centres and then he’d purport to have this stock, he’d ask them directions and lead them down a path in an attempt to scam them out of their money and hand them over a worthless, fake jacket," Superintendent Adam Whyte told radio station 2GB.
Superintendent Whyte urged people to contact police if they thought they had bought a fake jacket.
The business cards found in the Five Dock unit.Credit:NSW Police
Liverpool City Police Area command crime manager Detective Inspector Timothy Liddiard said: "People should be cautious of purchases of this nature when they are done in a public place and not through a reputable business as often the product can be fake."
Mr Gallo was taken to Liverpool Police Station and charged with seven counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of dealing with property proceeds of crime under $100,000.
He was refused bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on Thursday, where he did not enter a plea. Mr Gallo will be back in court on June 11.