Siti Nurhidayah Kamal has pleaded guilty in a Melbourne Magistrates Court to trying to extort A$1,000 (RM2,885) from an Australian couple in return for a handphone that contained pictures of their dying daughter despite not actually being in possession of the device.
Australian media reported the 24-year-old married Malaysian has been denied bail by Magistrate Jan McLean as she has been deemed a flight risk.
She will face a preliminary hearing at the County Court of Victoria at a later date.
It was reported that Siti contacted Jay and Dee Windross and demanded A$1,000, promising to give them their Samsung Galaxy S8 phone lost in a mall last April, which contained precious pictures of their dying 11-month-old daughter Amiyah.
The baby died after succumbing to an undiagnosed neurological issue she fought since her birth.
Siti was said to have contacted the couple via WhatsApp after they made a plea on social media for the return of the phone.
The couple said they believe the phone was stolen from the toilets near Chadstone Shopping Centre in Victoria.
Police said Siti initially contacted Dee to apologise for picking up the phone and promised to put it in the couple’s letterbox, but then demanded they deposit the cash in her account first.
News.com.au also reported that Siti is wanted by Malaysian police in relation to an airline ticket scam case.
Several people have lodged police reports against her for allegedly posing as an AirAsia employee and taking money for tickets for six passengers to travel at a cost of $A993 (RM2,863)
Siti and her husband had been working as Uber Eats deliverers earning A$120 (RM346) a day.
Her lawyer, Royce Dekker, said the couple left their children in Malaysia and had been trying to make ends meet when they fell on hard times and couldn’t pay the rent. They moved to a Springvale shadehouse in September 2018.