An avid horse rider pretended to work for spy agency ASIO as part of a years-long scheme to defraud someone he knows of more than $700,000, police allege.
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Canberra man Jeremiah Thomas James Deakin, 30, is charged with 156 fraud offences and 78 counts of impersonating a Commonwealth official.
"Police will allege that between 2016 and 2018 the man obtained more than $700,000 from a person known to him, through various deceptive means including falsely representing himself to be an employee of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation," ACT Policing said in a statement on Thursday.
During their investigation, police executed a number of search warrants including one at Mr Deakin's home in Red Hill.
Officers seized three horses and a Mitsubishi Triton ute from Mr Deakin under the Confiscation of Criminal Assets Act.
The 30-year-old's Instagram account is dominated by pictures of horses and of himself competing in equestrian events including showjumping.
Mr Deakin was not required to attend when his case was mentioned in the ACT Magistrates Court for the first time on Thursday morning.
No further details of the alleged crimes were given in court.
Lawyer Andrew Chakrabarty, representing Mr Deakin, asked Magistrate Glenn Theakston for a four-week adjournment.
Mr Chakrabarty said he needed that time to get instructions from Mr Deakin on what was a "quite complex" matter.
"Yes, there's dozens of charges, is there not?" Mr Theakston responded.
The magistrate then flicked through a list of all 234 counts and raised an eyebrow, adding: "And then some".
Because of the sheer volume of charges, Mr Theakston said the case was "the classic matter" in which pleas should eventually be entered in writing rather than verbally.
Mr Theakston granted the adjournment and set the case down to return to court on July 30.
