Alleged fake au pair Samantha Azzopardi will admit to being a lying child thief after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors.
The 31-year-old Victorian woman had been facing 55 charges, including child stealing, before agreeing to plead guilty to a handful of charges.
Police had alleged Azzopardi posed as a qualified au pair named Harper Hernandez to dupe unsuspecting families out of $6500 in wages over six months.
She was also accused of posing as a nurse named Sakah and of possessing identification documents belonging to 19 different people, including a child.
Alleged fake au pair Samantha Azzopardi will admit she defrauded families by lying about her identity
It’s alleged she posed as a qualified au pair named Harper Hernandez, dishonestly obtaining $6500 in wages over six months
Samantha Azzopardi is set to plead guilty to child stealing charges later this month
Azzopardi, who remains in custody at Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, is expected to plead guilty to the charges when she returns to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court later this month.
On Tuesday, he lawyer indicated she would plead guilty to three charges of child stealing, handling stolen goods, theft and an obtaining property by deception charge that incorporated 25 charges.
The matter had been scheduled for a contested preliminary hearing after Azzopardi challenged the nature of the fraud she was alleged to have committed.
Six witnesses were due to give evidence at the hearing, including Jazze and Tom Jervis, who employed Azzopardi between December 2018 and June 2019.
Azzopardi was arrested in November 2019 at a Myer store in Bendigo – in country Victoria – where she allegedly took a 10-month-old girl and a four-year-old girl without their parents’ knowledge.
CCTV footage allegedly showing Azzopardi with the children was aired on Channel 9 at the time.
It showed Azzopardi wearing what appeared to be a school dress and sunhat, holding the baby while her four-year-old sister walked behind.
Samantha Azzopardi is set to plead guilty to a swag of charges related to a series of bizarre kidnappings in 2019
The 31-year-old Victorian woman was facing 55 charges including child stealing
Police had alleged Azzopardi posed as an au pair and moved into the family home in Pascoe Vale just weeks before the CCTV was captured.
She allegedly told the children’s parents that she was taking them for a day trip, but ended up in Bendigo.
The alarm was raised when Azzopardi was allegedly spotted inside a mental health centre and detectives swooped.
The girls were returned unharmed in the bizarre kidnapping.
At a hearing in June, the court heard Azzopardi was accused of calling herself Harper Hernandez and stealing the driver’s license of a woman who hired her to look after her young children.
CCTV footage showing accused fake au pair – Samantha Azzopardi – in Bendigo with two children she allegedly took off with
Samantha Azzopardi appeared in a Melbourne court on Tuesday where her lawyer indicated she will plead guilty to child stealing charges
She allegedly helped the woman apply for a new passport but kept the original, news.com reported at the time.
She was further accused of using the woman’s driver’s license to book into a motel as part of a second con, which saw her allegedly portray a woman named ‘Marley’ to convince a 12-year-old girl to undertake a series of bizarre tasks.
Azzopardi allegedly told the girl she was a casting agent auditioning for a voice-over role for an upcoming Disney Pixar movie in Sydney.
The matter will return to court on April 27.