Melbourne man Christopher Alan Collins, 37, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including obtaining a financial advantage by deception and blackmail, after defrauding a woman of nearly $350,000. Collins, who has a history of targeting women met through dating apps, coerced the victim into handing over significant sums of money between January and June of last year.

Appearing in the Melbourne County Court, Collins admitted to charges related to "rolled-up offences" of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and blackmail. The court heard that between January 10 and June 11, 2023, the victim provided Collins with $344,894. Collins told the woman he owed money to "certain people" and that she was "required to make the payments."

Collins, a gambler and former Victorian Football League (VFL) player, funneled most of the stolen funds into bank and betting accounts held in his name. He also pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge of blackmail, which involved "unwarranted demands with menaces" made against the victim over an extended period from January 30 to June 4, 2023. The prosecution stated that Collins engaged in blackmail with the "view to gain for himself."

Adding to the severity of the charges, Collins also pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill the woman in Avondale Heights, a suburb in Melbourne's northwest, on June 2, 2023. This incident occurred while Collins was already facing charges for similar offenses.

This is not Collins' first conviction for defrauding women he met online. In September 2022, he was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court to a 22-month jail term, with a minimum of 16 months, after pleading guilty to 24 charges including fraud and theft. During that period, from January 2020 to early 2021, he stole over $100,000 from women met on dating apps Tinder and Oasis. Notably, in January 2020, while on bail for defrauding one victim of over $90,000, Collins met another woman and proceeded to steal her life savings.

Collins' modus operandi involved manipulating victims to gain access to their bank accounts, transferring funds to online betting platforms. He would often boast about being a professional gambler and convince women to open new betting accounts, encouraging them to place bets on "sure bets." In one instance, he transferred $96,000 from a victim's accounts to betting sites like Sportsbet, TAB, and bet365 within 20 minutes while she was on a dance floor at a Richmond pub. He later stole her credit card while she slept to pay for a taxi and drinks at a strip club.

Victim impact statements read during a November appeal highlighted the profound and lasting effects of Collins' actions. One victim, a divorced mother of two, described her life savings of $8,000 being stolen and stated, "This crime changed me beyond repair." Another woman, who lost $96,000, said the offending "still consumes her life" and expressed that the ordeal was "very traumatic" and had "completely ruined me."

Sentencing Magistrate Cecily Hollingworth had previously described Collins' behavior as "brazen and cunning," reflecting a lack of respect for women. His previous sentence in the County Court was reduced to a minimum of 13 months before parole eligibility.

Collins is scheduled to be sentenced for his latest offenses on September 18. His previous conviction saw his sentence reduced to a minimum 13-month period until he could be eligible for parole.