An international student from India has been jailed by an Adelaide court for his role in a phone call scam. He faces deportation to India once released from custody.
During the hearing in Adelaide Magistrates Court, 22-year-old Pratik Hasmukhbhai Davariya pleaded guilty to his involvement in the scam.
The court was told Davariya was keen to buy a car after he arrived in Australia on a student visa so contacted a friend in India seeking help.
He was then put onto another contact who told Davariya his bank account could be used to transfer large sums offshore to India and Thailand.
The scammers were calling Australian residents claiming to be from the tax office, threatening people with fines of up to $125,000, or jail, for supposedly unpaid taxes.
The court was told Davariya’s bank account was used for receiving payments.
He was arrested last August in the South Australian Riverland. While the scam involved a total of $43,908, the court heard he received about $2,000 for his role.
Magistrate Paul Bennett said the student had thought the money was from a gambling syndicate, so knew it to be "fishy".
Davariya has been jailed for just over a year with a nine-month non-parole period.
"I accept you did not devise the scam or make the phone calls," the magistrate said.
However, the court observed he had a “lesser role” but it was “critical”. “The scam you assisted used intimidation and, like all scams, preyed on the vulnerable.”
Davariya’s student visa has expired and he would be deported once freed from jail.
