Exclusive: A man accused of luring people into a Melbourne hotel room using Grindr – where he allegedly stole their ID documents and used them to commit fraud – was granted bail despite police warning that he had failed to appear at a Sydney court hearing, prompting a NSW magistrate to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Dong Qiao Li, also sometimes spelt as Dongqiao Li, was arrested at a hotel on Bourke Street in Melbourne’s CBD on April 11 and taken away in handcuffs.
He was later charged with several offences, including obtaining financial advantage by deception and attempting to obtain financial advantage by deception. Each of the financial advantage charges carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison under Victorian law.
Victoria Police said in a media release at the time that detectives had been investigating a series of cases involving a man — now identified as Li — who was allegedly behind a fake dating profile that lured victims to a hotel room in Melbourne’s CBD. There, he was accused of obtaining personal identity documents and using them to commit further fraud.
Although described in the media release as a 31-year-old Sydney man, Li’s lawyer told a bail hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on April 12 that Li was 26, had migrated from China with his family, and had originally settled with them in Perth.
He was now living in Ballarat with his mother, the lawyer said at the hearing, who was “as we speak, flying back from China”. (NSW court records obtained by Gay Sydney News list Li’s age as 31.)
What was said during the bail hearing can now be revealed after Gay Sydney News was granted access by the court to an audio recording of the proceedings. The recording reveals the police prosecutor argued against Li’s release, describing it as “an unacceptable risk” and “an endangerment to a lesser degree”, while outlining multiple alleged incidents of fraud committed by Li.
The court heard Victoria Police had been in contact with NSW Police, which advised that Li had failed to attend a hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on March 31 this year while on bail in NSW for a different matter.
“[The] matter was heard ex parte [without Li in attendance], and the court had a conviction [recorded against him]. They’ve issued a warrant to arrest him for return for sentencing,” the prosecutor said.
Arguing for bail, Li’s lawyer said his client had PTSD following a serious car crash in which his father was facially wounded and his mother disfigured.
“So there’s ongoing issues in relation to the trauma that … [has] never been addressed in relation to that serious accident,” the lawyer said.
Regarding the missed Sydney court appearance while on bail, the lawyer said Li had gone to court but left due to the presence of someone he believed was stalking him.
“For one reason or another, I’m instructed by Mr Lee … that he has himself his own stalker that was at court on that day and he had to leave the court and he made a report to the police,” the lawyer said.
The magistrate interjected, suggesting the alleged stalker “was probably the victim, but anyway”, and advised police that Li was “not going to receive a term in prison” while the case was being progressed through the court system, suggesting instead that he would be granting him bail.
“I would’ve thought he should report into Ballarat police station weekly,” the magistrate said.
With bail being granted, the police prosecutor asked that Li be prevented from leaving Victoria and be limited to using a single mobile phone, with the number provided to police, as it had allegedly “been used … to obtain identity [information] in relation to the offending”. Li’s lawyer did not object to this.
Ultimately, the magistrate declined to impose a travel restriction, but ruled that Li must report weekly to Ballarat police, reside only at his mother’s address, and use only one mobile phone.
The police prosecutor revealed that Li was accused of catfishing a man last year using Grindr.
Li had used a faceless profile, the prosecutor said, but sent a photograph during the online chat, and the man agreed to meet him at Hotel Indigo on Flinders Street in Melbourne on November 7.
After meeting in the foyer at 8pm, they went to a hotel room and engaged in a consensual intimate encounter, the prosecutor said. During the encounter, the victim realised the person he was with didn’t match the photo.
While the man was in the shower, the prosecutor said he left his wallet — containing several cards and $75 in cash — in his pants pocket. He then left the room about 8.15pm and had no further contact with Li.
Six days later, on November 13, the man noticed four unauthorised transactions on his corporate credit card, along with two further attempted transactions that were declined. He recalled seeing a similar incident on Reddit, and identified Li in photographs allegedly attached to that post.
The prosecutor said investigators obtained CCTV footage showing Li meeting the alleged victim in the Hotel Indigo foyer on November 7. Additional footage from Sydney’s Bondi Beach area, captured on the day of the unauthorised transactions, was also recovered, though police did not specify its contents.
Phone data and call charge records were also obtained as part of the investigation.
The court also heard details of several other alleged incidents.
Between April 3 and 4 last year, Li allegedly stayed at a Rydges hotel “and utilised … false details of a person by the name of [redacted], where $266.40 was obtained”, the police prosecutor said.
Another incident involved the Crowne Plaza in Whiteman Street, where “false details were used” and “$390 was lost as a result of that [alleged] offending”.
A further alleged offence took place from April 7 to 11 this year at Le Méridien hotel on Bourke Street, also using false details.
It was at the Le Méridien, on April 11, that the police prosecutor said investigators located Li, arrested him, and took him to Melbourne West police station. He gave a no-comment interview to police at the station.
Li was due to front Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 7 but the case was adjourned to July 4, just a couple of days before his 32nd birthday. It’s unclear who sought the adjournment.
This article was legally reviewed by LGBTIQ+ law firm Dowson Turco Lawyers. Do you know more? Contact us via DM on Instagram @gaysydneynews.
Correction: Li’s next hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court is on July 4, not July 7.
Gay Sydney News editor