Last week Jeremy Bannister pleaded guilty to 44 offences, including selling fake diamonds, gems and jewellery.
On Friday he was sentenced to three years in prison, with 18 months of the sentence suspended for two years. He will serve a minimum of 18 months behind bars.
He was also ordered to pay $47,198.43 in compensation to his victims.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Wendy Wilmoth described Bannister’s actions as “brazen deceptions of people who believed you were a genuine trader", according to a report in
The Age.
Earlier in the week, the Victorian County Court
heard Bannister had posed as a qualified gemmologist to sell the phoney diamonds and gems, as well as counterfeit Rolex watches and Tiffany & Co jewellery.
In fact, Bannister was unemployed and allegedly used a number of false names and addresses to avoid detection.
He used online trading websites eBay and the Trading Post to commit the crimes, however his operation was exposed when an unhappy customer contacted police.
The customer had purchased a 3.77-carat “diamond” wedding ring for $4,500 in 2008, later discovering that the diamond was not real.
After a three-month investigation police raided Bannister’s home in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Iris, uncovering fake stones, jewellery, and counterfeit brands including Rolex watches and Tiffany & Co jewellery.
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