An alleged fraudster charged with duping an elderly woman out of nearly $280,000 has dramatically fled from a courthouse, pursued by security guards, following a two-hour stand-off with reporters.
James Lawrence Michael Raftery appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with 22 fraud offences.
The court heard he was accused of dishonestly obtaining $278,459.20 from an elderly Yarralumla woman during a four-month period in 2019.
The 89-year-old woman is the same person allegedly swindled out of $363,020 by computer technician Byung Uk Cho, who faces 27 fraud-related charges.
Mr Cho was recently released on bail after returning that money to the woman, but he continues to insist he did not steal it and that he was helping invest the funds in South Korean real estate.
It is understood that Mr Raftery and Mr Cho have not been charged as co-defendants despite their common alleged victim.
It is also understood that the money Mr Raftery is accused of obtaining by deception is additional to the sum referred to in Mr Cho's charges.
This means the elderly Yarralumla woman is alleged to been conned out of a total of $641,479.20.
Mr Raftery, who had been issued a summons to face court, did not enter pleas during a brief appearance on Friday morning.
He then spent about two hours looking out the window and hunting for alternative exits to avoid two reporters who were standing out the front to take his picture.
Eventually, he took off through a fire door at the rear of the building, triggering an alarm and causing three security guards to give chase.
Security did not manage to apprehend him, and he was gone by the time reporters reached the back of courthouse.
Mr Raftery is supposed to return to court on January 28.
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