Yoshe Ann Taylor, a 46-year-old mother of two from Queensland, fell victim to an elaborate internet love scam, first revealed by a joint The Feed - Fairfax investigation in 2016 (watch The Feed's story below). The former kindergarten teacher, who has so far spent five years in an overcrowded prison, was duped by an international drug smuggling syndicate that preyed on lonely hearts.
Watch The Feed's 2016 investigation 'Love Scammed'
Taylor travelled to Phnom Penh after engaging in an online romance with a man who went by the name “Precious Max.” Claiming he was a successful South African businessman, Max offered not just charm, sex appeal and romance, but also a possible job in an arts and crafts business.
But neither the romance nor business eventuated. Taylor was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport in September 2013 with two kilograms of heroin concealed in her luggage. She was sentenced in 2014, and ran an unsuccessful appeal in 2016.
“Precious Max” whose real name is Nwoko Precious Chineme, was also arrested and convicted. Far from a successful businessman, the Nigerian national is a drug trafficker and fraudster.
The Supreme Court’s decision to quash Taylor’s conviction comes off the back of new evidence presented by her legal team showing that other Australian citizens were scammed by “Precious Max” and his associates.
Victims of "Precious Max" include a single mother of three who was duped from behind bars. In 2015, two years after Max was imprisoned, the woman was arrested at Melbourne's Tullermarine airport carrying $1.5 million worth of heroin. While Taylor was locked up for a similar offence, charges against this woman were dropped by Australian authorities after she provided the AFP with an 18-page statement.
Melbourne-based solicitor, Alex Wilson, who is part of Taylor’s legal team, said the Cambodian Supreme Court decision was based on “new evidence relating to a number of other cases involving Australian citizens who were also indisputably scammed by co-accused Nwoko Precious Chineme (aka Precious Max) or his associates.”
“The facts of these cases are strikingly similar to the case of our client and the version of events our client has consistently put forward since the moment of her arrest.”
Taylor case’s will now head back to the Court of Appeal for redetermination.
In response to this story an AFP spokesperson told The Feed:
- The AFP had no direct involvement in the arrest of Yoshe Ann Taylor, this was the result of an investigation by Cambodian authorities.
- On 28 August 2013, two Australia residents were arrested by the AFP in Perth and Melbourne and charged with importing heroin into Australia. Both of these people had travelled from Cambodia.
- Information about these arrests was passed on to Cambodian authorities, who then initiated an investigation into the source of the importations into Australia.
- This exchange of information is a normal part of the AFP’s police-to-police assistance.
- As a result of an investigation by Cambodian authorities, three people – including an Australian woman – were subsequently arrested in Cambodia for drug offences.
- The circumstances around these three arrests are a matter for Cambodian authorities.
