A Wollongong man has been charged by NSW Police for allegedly damaging telco infrastructure in the Illawarra and South West Sydney regions in order to make fraudulent purchases.
The 24-year-old man was arrested in Liverpool on Tuesday following investigations into a spate of incidents in and around Lake Illawarra, Wollongong and Liverpool during April.
Police will allege the man cut cables, causing “EFTPOS facilities in neighbouring commercial businesses to become immobilised”.
He is then said to have conducted a number of fraudulent purchases while EFTPOS was down.
The man has been charged with 30 offences relating to the “malicious damage”, including “intentionally/recklessly destroy/damage property, tamper with facility owned by carrier to hinder operation and dishonestly obtain property by deception”.
He was refused bail and will face Wollongong Local Court on August 20.
The arrest comes in the same week that cabling for a new fixed wireless tower in regional Victoria was allegedly ripped out of the ground and removed by saboteurs.
