An international con artist has been jailed after she pretended to be a 14-year-old French victim of sex trafficking, with a magistrate telling her she could face more prison time if she doesn’t accept her mental health diagnosis.
Samantha Azzopardi appeared via audio visual link at Waverley Local Court on Friday wearing her prison greens, a face mask, glasses, and a headband.
The 33-year-old was sentenced for knowingly making a false representation to police that she was a victim of child neglect – her 100th offence in Australia.
In August, court documents reveal Azzopardi told not-for-profit service provider JewishCare that she was a 14-year-old French girl who had recently arrived in Australia to stay with a foster family after fleeing abuse by her parents.
When police arrived at a Woollahra home to investigate the claims, she tried to flee but told police she had been in the care of a couple since arriving in Australia five weeks prior.
Police attempted to locate the family to ascertain whether they were adequate caregivers but Azzopardi led them on a wild goose-chase through the eastern suburbs.
In broken English with a heavy French accent, she claimed to be lost after living in five houses during the five weeks.
Investigations found the names of the couple were entirely made up, and police believe correspondence to JewishCare from the couple was sent by Azzopardi.
Although she claimed her name was Emily Bamberger (a former victim of her cons), the 33-year-old was charged under the surname Azzapadari, with police confirming the con artist used more than 40 known aliases.
NSW Police contacted the Department of Communities and Justice, Australian Border Force, Australian Federal Police and even the French authorities to understand how the “teen” had arrived in Australia and to assess the abuse claims.
Federal agents formed the suspicion that the “14-year-old French girl” was part of a human trafficking and sexual servitude ring.
Azzopardi said she spoke only French but refused to engage with a French-speaking officer.
After nine hours of investigations, authorities became suspicious and fingerprinted the “teen” to learn she was known con artist Samantha Azzopardi.
Although she claimed her name was Emily Bamberger (a former victim of her cons), the 33-year-old was charged under the surname Azzapadari, with police confirming the con artist used more than 40 known aliases.
The fresh charge comes only three months after Azzopardi was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order (CCO) for falsely claiming she was the victim of a cult member who held her captive and raped her.
The court was told the new “identical charge” of making a false representation to police was a breach of her court order not to commit any new offences.
Legal aid solicitor Dominic Smith told the court Azzopardi had a “complex mental health diagnosis” and a “very difficult subjective case”.
“She was subject to sexual and physical abuse in her formative years,” Mr Smith said.
The court was told Azzopardi had received “severe physical abuse” at the hands of her mother, who agreed in a mental health report that she had once nearly killed her daughter.
Mr Smith said his client also had an intellectual disability stemming from a “clearly dysfunctional childhood”.
“Irrespective of different diagnosis over time, these are all primarily a personality type disorder – maladaptive coping mechanism or dealing with problems she experienced in her younger life,” he said.
“There is the offending itself where she’s actively putting herself in these situations, in the shoes of these young people by saying, ‘I am that young person, I am a victim’.”
Magistrate Ross Hudson extensively went through Azzopardi’s documents with the court, including the 33-year-old’s history and psychological analysis.
He told the court that Azzopardi “appears to struggle to face reality and often makes up false identities about herself” while avoiding her life through a “way of fantasy”.
“It may drive a sense of power and excitement from her ability to deceive others,” the magistrate said.
Mr Hudson conceded the con artist had a “severe personality disorder” that led to an extreme type of lying but said mental health had a role to play in her offending.
“She is reluctant to discuss her past behaviour, has difficulty recording it, or both … then there is the acceptance of the diagnosis and thereafter the lack of recognition leads to a limited way of travelling down the path of treatment,” he said.
Mr Hudson sentenced Azzopardi to a term of imprisonment of 17 months for both the breach and the fresh charge, with a non-parole period of eight months.
He backdated the sentence to May due to time already served, which means she will be eligible for parole on January 15, 2023.
“I appreciate from the material I have, the somewhat horrific background you have had, but in terms of bringing this back to you living in the community, you have to accept the diagnosis and accepting a path and period of specific treatment for that diagnosis,” Mr Hudson said.
“These offences have to be shunned by the court and the community.
“I hope you take those words to encourage you.”
Mr Hudson told Azzopardi that she should use the coming months to accept her diagnosis and try to undergo treatment.
“Otherwise there will be a situation where custody, which has been reached on a number of different factors, will unfortunately form a part of your life,” he said.
The sentence follows a disturbing and prolonged pattern of behaviour for which Azzopardi has earned international infamy.
In documents tendered to the court, police state she is a “global and interstate con artist” whose “notoriety has been widely reported”.
The 33-year-old made global headlines in 2013 when she was found wandering the streets of Dublin in Ireland.
She led Irish police to believe she was the victim of a human trafficking ring, which led to a widespread investigation that wasted more than €300,000 ($A465,000).
A few years later, she was arrested after telling police in Canada that she was a victim of sexual exploitation and trafficking.
The serial con artist told Calgary police that she was a 14-year-old girl who had been abducted and subjected to ongoing sexual abuse. Canadian authorities wasted more than $150,000 on looking into the claims.
The 33-year-old was charged and deported from both countries after her claims were proven to be false.
However, Australian authorities have also fallen prey to Azzopardi’s lies. The court documents show this new charge will be the 100th charge laid against her in Australia.
Azzopardi was jailed in May 2021 for at least 12 months after being convicted of stealing two children after being hired as a nanny under a false name. Two months after she was released, she lied about being a victim of sexual assault in Sydney.
At the time of her sentencing for her lies in May, the court was told Azzopardi was living with anxiety, depression and established borderline personality disorder.
“The accused poses a significant risk to the community (and) her uncontrollable desire to make fictitious reports sees countless resources being drawn from legitimate victims … to investigate her lies and deception,” police assert in documents tendered to the court.
The documents show the notorious scam artist has also been diagnosed with a condition called pseudologia fantastica, which manifests itself as compulsive and pathological lying.
Azzopardi will remain behind bars until she is eligible for parole in January.
