A fraudster tradie ripped off multiple women he preyed on via a dating app to fund his gambling addiction.
Serial swindler Leigh Abbot, 46, was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on Wednesday to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to multiple rolled-up obtain-financial-advantage-by-deception charges.
Abbot cheated four women out of a combined $22,180 between April 2023 and March 2024.
The grifter roped in his first victim after meeting her at the Grand Hotel on the Gold Coast in April 2023.
Abbot told her that his dad had died and he had travelled up to the Gold Coast from Melbourne for the funeral.
He said he needed cash to 'help transport his dad's car and some other personal items to Melbourne.'
'Hey babe just at airport now.. [sic] sorting out with bank when they will release the money... such a hassle.. if I get stuck can I get a small loan off you,' Abbot texted his victim.
'Trying to get hold of family but there all flying lol.. it's OK if you can't.. just cost me 25 grand for funeral.. and used up all my leave at work.. don't stress if you can't though ok there is no pressure xx [love heart kiss emoji].
'Don't stress if you can't though ok there is no pressure xx [love heart kiss emoji].'
Serial swindler Leigh Abbot, 46, was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on Wednesday
Abbot blew most of the stolen cash through his Ladbrokes betting app
The victim ended up transferring $4000 to Abbot over several transactions.
Investigators discovered Abbot made two $500 purchases and put $1000 of the stolen funds into his Ladbrokes gambling app.
Abbot, who repaid the victim $600 in January 2024, had a measly bank balance of $3.53 before he gleaned the woman's cash.
Abbot met his next victim on the dating app Zoosk in September 2023.
The scoundrel got his claws in deep with the woman he stole $15,000 from in December 2023.
Abbot swapped sexualised photos and messages with the woman, who he led on with a promise of a night of New Year's Eve romance.
The pair's communication included 'descriptions of sexual acts they wanted to perform on each other', the court was told.
Abbot fooled the victim into taking out several loans to funnel him money he pretended was for a fictitious work trip to Sydney, but the fraudster was actually in Melbourne.
Despite never meeting in person, the victim had been hoodwinked by Abbot into believing they were together.
'I'm still waiting on the $5,000 that I was going to use for Chrissy, that should go through today or tomorrow, I'm happy to give it to you, I get paid Wed arvo and I will get money for Chrissy from the parents,' the victim messaged Abbot.
'I'm yours and I've got you always [love heart kiss emoji]. I just want you for new years to kiss you. I'm going to be home in 30 [love heart kiss emoji] thinking of you baby this must be so hard on you but Im [sic] here for you and I will always wait for you I promise! Your [sic] mine I’m yours.'
When the woman's loan options dried up, Abbot convinced her to borrow money against her home.
However, NAB blocked the move after detecting Abbot's fraudulent conduct.
Much of the cash Abbot stole from the woman was splurged on online gambling.
Abbot also snared his two other victims on Zoosk but never met those women in person either.
Abbot, who had 80cents in his bank account, convinced a victim to transfer him $100 because he 'bloody forgot my lunch' while claiming to be at work.
Abbot told police he was addicted to gambling on horse racing
The victim transferred the cash with the description 'lunch hehe'.
Abbot also kept his victims dangling with bogus promises and ridiculous ideas about how he would repay the money.
This included a ludicrous claim that he would have his neighbour Uber his wallet over to a victim, when in reality he had zero intention of repaying any of the women.
In one transaction, Abbot repaid a victim $200, only to immediately turn around and claim he needed $300 for an Uber.
The woman then sent back the $200 and added another $100 on top, the court was told.
Abbot convinced one victim to lend him $250 with the promise of sending her $1500, despite her telling him about her perilous financial situation.
'Ok. I transferred. Please please please don't leave me with nothing. You don't need to give me $1500, just what I've transferred. I'll be beyond fd without [that] money though.'
Abbot responded: 'I got you don't stress xx'.
Abbot is a former Tasmanian footy coach who fled the Apple Isle due to debts he owed to bikie gangs
Police arrested Abbot in Victoria in May last year.
He told investigators he has 'been hooked on the horses all his life'.
Abbot earned the nickname the 'Tindler Swindler' after the court heard he was jailed in Western Australia in 2017 for scamming several women.
The fraudster blackmailed 12 women out of almost $160,000 using threats, including distributing explicit photos online and burning down one victim's house.
Abbot, a former Tasmanian footy coach who fled the Apple Isle due to debts he owed to bikie gangs, met those victims via dating and social media sites.
Judge Caitlin English said during today's sentencing that Abbot committed 'calculated and deliberate' offending in an 'intimate context'.
The judge said Abbot preyed on vulnerable women looking for love and highlighted the financial plight he put the women in.
'The victims would've felt humiliated by your conduct,' Judge English said.
Judge English also highlighted Abbot's degenerate gambling binge which saw him withdraw $73,000 from TAB venue cash machines and churn through $247,000 in Ladbrokes deposits between 2021 and 2024.
Abbot was lobbed into prison, handed a two-year community correction order and ordered to repay his victims.