Nektario Zafiratos – a 51-year-old Melbourne man accused of rape and fraud – has begged for bail so he can move his elderly mother from Greece to Australia.
On Wednesday, June 12, Zafiratos appeared before the Victorian County Court via a video link from jail, where he had been locked up pending his court case for more than 400 days.
Zafiratos’ defence lawyer told the court his client wanted bail because his 74-year-old mum was sick with advanced dementia and he was “struggling with his mental health as a consequence of his incarceration.”
The lawyer outlined that Zafiratos had arranged short-term accommodation in Australia for his mum through a friend he met in prison.
The court heard the plan was for Zafiratos’ prison friend to fly to Greece and help pack up his mother – who has never met said friend in person – and her bridal shop. The pair would return to Melbourne, Australia where her son would look after the 74-year-old and help her open a new store here.
Judge David Sexton questioned the plan and the viability of an old woman with a cognitive impairment “flying anywhere, let alone from Athens to Melbourne.” The Judge denied bail and said the accusations against Zafiratos were “very serious.”
The 51-year-old was detained in April 2023 and charged with 24 counts, but the prosecution dropped five of them at the start of a committal hearing in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on 27 November 2023.
The court’s charge papers reported that the self-described “serial fraudster” has been accused of ten counts of rape, four counts of sexual contact without consent, and five counts of obtaining a sexual act by deception.
Nine of the accusations date back to 2021, with the remaining ten allegedly occurring in 2023.
Zafiratos will return to court for a directions hearing later this month.
Source: The Herald Sun.
