Police have arrested a bridal saleswoman after a six-month investigation into allegations wedding dresses were being fraudulently resold online in Queensland’s southeast.
Officers first began investigating the alleged scheme in July after a Cairns woman told police she had given her custom wedding dress to bridal company for dry cleaning.
The woman alleged she later saw the dress being sold to another person on social media, triggering sweeping raids at homes in Edmonton, Cairns North and Smithfield.
During their investigation, police allege an additional 69 victims from across the state contacted detectives with similar complaints from January 2019 to July 2023.
On January 2, Cairns detectives travelled to Beaudesert on the Gold Coast’s Scenic Rim region where they charged a 53-year-old woman with 70 counts of fraud.
The woman will appear before Cairns Magistrates Court on January 30. Electronic devices, documents and replica wedding gowns were also allegedly seized at the Cairns homes.
Officer in charge of the Cairns Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Matt Hogan said the outcome was a result of outstanding police work.
“Detectives worked tirelessly and in co-operation with the 70 alleged victims during this six-month operation,” Acting Senior Sergeant Hogan said.