$1.1m line of credit, 72 cards

AN international student used fake IDs to get more than $1.1 million in credit on 72 cards.

He blew almost $60,000 on technology, appliances and furniture.

When police cottoned on to Luqman Asghar, an Italian and Pakistani citizen, he hired a car, drove to Perth and tried to hop on a flight to Milan.

Asghar pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court yesterday to five charges including fraud, forgery and attempted fraud.

The business student and another man made fake IDs to apply for 72 credit cards. Collectively, the cards had a limit of more than $1.1 million between July and September 2017.

Judge David Kent said the pair planned to use the cards at ATMs but when that did not work they went to stores such as Harvey Norman and purchased a number of goods.

“There was specialised machinery involved in the scheme which took place over a number of months and included a specialised printer and an EFTPOS machine,” he said.

The court was told the pair tried to apply for another 62 credit cards using fake IDs but were refused.

“Upon detection you tried to flee, you drove from the Gold Coast to Perth and were trying to board a plane to Milan,” Judge Kent said.

The court was told Asghar offered to pay the money back before sentencing late last year.

However, police were unable to provide bank details to return the money to the victims.

Judge Kent declined to order Asghar to pay compensation as it was still not clear where the money was to be returned to.

Asghar was sentenced to two years prison, wholly suspended for a two-year operational period.

It is not clear if Asghar will be deported following the sentence.