A man has been issued a further 26 charges after being arrested earlier in the year over his involvement in an alleged fake puppy scam.
Police arrested the 53-year-old at a unit on George Street in Sydney's CBD back in May following a year-long investigation into a series of fake advertisements selling puppies - mostly French and British bulldogs - for thousands of dollars each.
The man was advertising between $2000 to $5000 per puppy, while asking for bank deposits from prospective customers up front, before converting the money into cryptocurrency.
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Police say the puppies never existed.
Today, detectives laid an additional 26 charges against a man as part of an ongoing investigation over the course of the year.
Police allege the man stole more than $180,000 from would-be dog owners, and that a "multinational crime syndicate" was behind the ads.
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In total, at least 23 buyers across Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia were defrauded.
The Sydney man allegedly acted as a money mule for the syndicate, receiving a total of nearly $183,000 in deposits from the buyers into his bank accounts.
The man remains on conditional bail and is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court today.
