A computer repair "geek" accused of defrauding an elderly customer of more than $363,000 has now returned the money, but continues to insist he did not steal it.
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Byung Uk Cho, 27, was granted bail on Wednesday after nearly two months on remand in Canberra's Alexander Maconochie Centre.
The South Korean national, who is also known as Kevin Cho, had been in custody since he was arrested at Sydney Airport in early October and extradited to the ACT on 27 fraud charges.
Court documents say that while Mr Cho was working as a technician for Geeks2U in Canberra, he was tasked with visiting the home of an 89-year-old Yarralumla woman to repair her computer.
He is alleged to have used the opportunity to gain access to the woman's bank account and dishonestly transfer $363,020 to himself over a period of eight months beginning in June 2019.
Mr Cho first applied for bail earlier this month, when his barrister Peter Berg said there was no dispute that the money in question had been transferred to the 27-year-old's accounts.
But Mr Berg claimed there was no dishonesty involved, and said his client was helping the elderly woman make investments.
On that occasion, Special Magistrate Margaret Hunter refused bail after expressing concerns that Mr Cho might immediately try to spend or hide the money from authorities if released.
When Mr Cho applied for bail again in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Mr Berg said his client had arranged for the return of "the full amount of money".
A cheque for the alleged victim had been given, he told the court, to a senior detective who nodded in agreement from the public gallery.
Magistrate James Lawton said the return of the funds seemed to be "a pretty compelling admission" of guilt, but Mr Berg described the entire scenario as "an unfortunate misunderstanding".
Mr Berg said Mr Cho had struck up a friendship with the 89-year-old woman, but did not have "complete facility in the English language".
This, he said, may explain how things had gone awry when Mr Cho tried to help the elderly woman invest in real estate in South Korea.
"[The return of the funds] is telling of there always being an intention that the money would be used for investment purposes," Mr Berg said, as he indicated not guilty pleas to all charges.
"There is no suggestion it's been dissipated in criminal or otherwise salacious ways."
But prosecutor Isabella Coker argued that it made "no sense" that an elderly widow with no ties to South Korea would have wanted her money invested there by someone who had come over to fix her computer.
Ms Coker said Mr Cho had in fact taken advantage of an "extremely vulnerable" woman to commit crimes he would likely receive a custodial sentence for if convicted.
She was also concerned Mr Cho would flee if released, noting that he had been arrested at an airport and that he was at risk of being jailed in South Korea if he did not return there soon for mandatory military service.
But Mr Lawton said that in circumstances where the money had been returned and Mr Cho's passport had been surrendered, bail conditions could ameliorate the prosecution's concerns.
He released Mr Cho to live at an address in Gungahlin, and imposed terms including that he must not leave the ACT.
The case returns to court in February next year.