Hallam business owner Colin Bakof has been targeted by a con man and hopes police track him down soon.
By Rebecca Fraser
A HALLAM business owner duped out of more than $100,000 by a serial con man says he will find it hard to trust again.
Narre Warren father of one Colin Bakof told the News he was forced to refinance his business after he fell victim to the fraudster.
Police have issued a photograph of 36-year-old Hampton Park man, Scott Harris, following the incident, and want to speak to him in relation to the matter.
They believe he travels extensively throughout Australia.
Police allege that on 27 January a former employee of NOS Computers stole a large sum of cash from the company safe, a company debit card, a mobile phone, a personal debit card and a car valued at $25,000.
Police believe the man is accomplished with computers and particularly adept at creating false identities.
They say the man also uses numerous aliases and police believe he is currently in Queensland.
Police this week said they also believed that the man was in possession of a high-quality specialised printer capable of producing photographic identification with overlays and holographic images.
Police said the man had accumulated deceptions to the value of about $30,000 on company and personal cards from NOS Computers.
On 4 April, police intercepted a shipment of products used in making false identities addressed to the man. The value of these was about $10,000.
Police said the former employee had also produced photographic identification at a bank in South Australia in the name of another person. Police said the bank had then allowed the man to extend Mr Bakof’s credit limit by a substantial figure.
Police said the man had then withdrawn $60,000 from the account, taking the value of his total thefts and deceptions to about $115,000.
Mr Bakof said his former employee had worked with him for the past 13 months and he had never suspected a thing.
He said both he and his co-workers had been shocked to discover they had been deceived and he would have to foot the bill for a large part of the deception.
He said it was more than likely the man’s defacto partner and children were travelling with him and urged anyone with information to come forward to police.
“He must still have ties to the area and someone must know where he is,” Mr Bakof said.
“I urge anyone who knows anything to contact police as soon as possible so he can be caught so that he does not do the same thing to someone else.
“I was not the first and I won’t be the last unless he is caught.”
Anybody with any information about this crime is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Senior Constable Simon Polson Narre Warren CIU, phone 9705 3114.
