Con artist Samantha Azzopardi is charged with allegedly posing as a French child sex abuse victim
>
Infamous con artist is charged with allegedly posing as a 14-year-old child sex trafficking victim from France – when she is a 33-year-old Australian woman whose scams have made international headlines
- Con artist Samantha Azzopardi allegedly claimed to be sex trafficking victim
- Australian Azzopardi accused of impersonating 14-year-old from France
- Police called in by homeless charity who Azzopardi had asked to help her
- Azzopardi’s long list of exploits have gained her notoriety around the world
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
An Australian con artist whose exploits have gained her worldwide notoriety has been accused of impersonating a 14-year-old French victim of sex trafficking.
Samantha Lyndell Azzopardi, 34, appeared at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday accused of falsely representing herself as a teenage girl who had arrived in Australia to live with a foster family.
Police said a day was wasted investigating her claims.
No plea has been entered.
Samantha Azzopardi, seen here in police custody, has been accused of representing herself as a French 14-year-old victim of child trafficking
Azzopardi allegedly told her story to homeless charity Sydney Jewish House, located in Sydney eastern suburbs, who contacted police on Monday.
Because Azzopardi claimed to only speak French a translator was offered at the police station but she offered only limited conversation.
Azzopardi first came to international attention when Irish police investigated claims she was a victim of sex trafficking
Police accepted Azzopardi, who has a small and slender build, was a minor because her face was partly obscured behind a mask, the court heard.
In opposing bail police prosecutor Nicole McMahon said releasing Azzopardi, who appeared in court restrained by two officers, was an ‘unacceptable risk to the community’.
‘It seems the only time she’s not offending is when she’s in custody,’ she said, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Magistrate Paul Hudson said he believed Azzopardi suffered from schizophrenia and that affected her behaviour.
However he refused bail on the grounds that she may fail to appear at future proceedings, which resume on Thursday, or reoffend.
Magistrate Hudson referred to a long list of charges Azzopardi has previously faced in different locales around the world.
Azzopardi, here pictured in 2021, told a homeless charity and police that she only spoke French
Azzopardi allegedly presented herself as a French teenage sex trafficking victim to homeless charity Jewish Sydney House (address pictured)
Azzopardi, here photographed in 2019, was refused bail during her appearance at Waverley Local Court o
Azzopardi has invented a number of bizarre identities to con families and international authorities to commit crimes such as stealing children and property.
In 2013, Azzopardi showed up in central Dublin claiming to be a teenage sex trafficking victim from Eastern Europe, which shot her to worldwide attention.
It cost the Irish government hundreds of thousands of dollars before her true identity was exposed.
In May this year Azzopardi was ordered to serve a three-year community corrections order after telling Sydney police she was teenage cult member who had been been sexually assaulted.
In May Azzopardi was ordered to serve a three-year community corrections order after telling police she was a teenage cult member who had been sexually abused