Recidivist Thief with 79 Previous Convictions Sentenced to 6 Months Home-D
November 16, 2022
PHOTO: NZME
”You’ve ripped off a lot of people,” Tauranga District Court judge Louis Bidois told the 34-year-old when she appeared in court on Monday after earlier pleading guilty to seven counts of obtaining by deception, three of using a document for pecuniary advantage and one of theft.
The charges relate to 11 separate incidents Supercheap Auto, Bunnings Warehouse and Mitre 10 stores across the country, spanning from November 2020 to March 2021.
Rafiee, also known as Aaliyah, is an experienced con artist, stealing nearly $50,000 from unwitting buyers on TradeMe in 2011 by promising iPhones and iPads that didn’t exist. She would buy courier bags so she could provide buyers with tracking numbers, despite never intending on sending a thing.
She was sentenced to 200 hours community work and ordered to pay $48,000 in reparation after that offending.
For her latest offending, Rafiee was deemed to have a high likelihood of reoffending and a pre-sentence report suggested prison was the most suitable sentence.
She was sentenced on Monday to six months’ home detention.