Elusive fraudster facing extradition from South Australia to be sentenced over Canberra theft and burglaryEBy Elizabeth ByrneTopic:Courts1h ago1 hours agoFri 9 May 2025 at 4:40amThe arrest warrant was issued after Justin Dion Appleton failed to show up for sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court for a third time. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)In short:A fraudster who has failed to appear in court three times will be forced to travel interstate to appear for sentencing, after a warrant was issued for his arrest.Justin Appleton pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $40,000 from a Canberra Flight Centre shop over several months, hiding his tracks with false receipts.What's next?The court found some medical certificates saying he couldn't attend court were fake, and ordered his arrest after a doctor said he could fly to Canberra.abc.net.au/news/act-elusive-fraudster-facing-extradition-burglary-arrest-warrant/105274562Link copiedShareShare articleAn elusive fraudster who refuses to come to Canberra from South Australia to be sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court is now facing extradition, after Chief Justice Lucy McCallum issued a warrant for his arrest.Justin Dion Appleton, 38, pleaded guilty to theft and burglary after he took cash from a secure draw, paid by clients who had made bookings with his colleagues at Canberra's city-based Flight Centre office.Court documents show he took nearly $40,000 at the end of 2019 and in early 2020, to support an out of control gambling habit.His technique to hide the theft was to reverse the cash receipt, and replace it with an AMEX receipt, although that money was never received by the company.Eventually Appleton left Flight Centre, but he had remembered the code to the roller door.Fraudster 'has a history of creating documents based on a lie'The court documents show that in 2020, during the pandemic when the shop was shut on weekends, he let himself in and took more cash from the secure drawer.Appleton was finally caught when a former colleague saw him going into the office, and alerted managers.The case was listed for sentence yesterday, for the third time, but the effort was abandoned after Appleton failed to show up again, even after a letter from Chief Justice McCallum to remind him."This man has a history of creating documents based on a lie," Chief Justice McCallum said at the time.That was based on allegations he had produced false medical certificates to avoid appearing in court.She said it was time he appeared in person, and if he didn't she would want to hear evidence from a medical practitioner about his condition.Offender's injuries should not stop him from being sentenced, Chief Justice saysToday his lawyer told the court he had been instructed that Appleton would not be appearing in court in person or by video link.Chief Justice McCallum told the court that even if he was injured he could be sentenced, noting she herself was currently in a moon boot.She said the latest doctor's certificate supplied to the court appeared genuine, but the letter with it "under the unlikely heading 'medical letter' is not".Appleton's GP did give evidence this morning, that he had complained of falling from a wall at home and injuring his back.He confirmed the medical certificate, which ruled Appleton unfit for work, was genuine.But he also admitted police had presented him with other documents which were not genuine, or that had been altered in some way.The doctor said Appleton's current injury should not prevent him from appearing in court."As far as you are concerned he's fit to travel now?" 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