Alleged Grindr fraudster to plead guilty in Melbourne

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, intends to plead guilty.

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.

At a Melbourne Magistrates’ Court hearing on July 4, Li appeared without a lawyer but confirmed he planned to plead guilty.

“What I’m told Mr Li is that you’re pleading guilty and it has a date on the 21st of August for that. Is that what you’ve told your lawyer?” the magistrate asked.

“I think so, yes,” Li responded.

The magistrate said the court had “been given a heads up on what the plan is” and extended Li’s bail to the plea hearing date.

“It’s good that you’re here, because if you’re on bail, I can extend your bail, and I’ll extend your bail to that date of 21 August,” the magistrate said. “And I’ve entered your plea of guilty on our system.”

Once the guilty plea is formally entered at the plea hearing, the case will proceed to sentencing. The magistrate will then consider the facts of the case, any submissions from the prosecution and defence, and determine a penalty.

Gay Sydney News has applied for access to court documents relating to the case. The magistrate adjourned that application to August 21, saying she did not yet have the documents before her.

Victoria Police initially opposed bail at an earlier hearing on April 12. A police prosecutor argued Li’s release posed “an unacceptable risk” and “an endangerment to a lesser degree”, citing his failure to attend a court hearing in NSW on March 31 related to a separate matter at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.

As a result of his no-show at Downing Centre, the NSW magistrate had issued a warrant for Li’s arrest.

Regarding the missed Sydney court appearance while on bail, the defence lawyer in the April 12 hearing said Li had gone to court but left due to the presence of someone he believed was stalking him.

The magistrate presiding over the April 12 hearing – a different magistrate to the one at the July 4 hearing – remarked that the alleged stalker “was probably the victim, but anyway”.

In a media release issued at the time of Li’s arrest, Victoria Police said detectives had been investigating a series of cases involving a man – now identified as Li – who allegedly used a fake dating profile to lure victims to a Melbourne hotel room. There, he was accused of stealing identity documents and committing further fraud.

While the media release described him as a 31-year-old Sydney man, Li’s lawyer told the court in April that he was 26, had migrated from China with his family, and originally settled in Perth. He was now living in Ballarat with his mother.

However, NSW court records obtained by Gay Sydney News list Li’s age as 31.

During that same April hearing in Victoria, police detailed several alleged incidents. In one case, a man reportedly met Li at Hotel Indigo on November 7 last year after being catfished via Grindr.

Following a consensual encounter, the man discovered unauthorised transactions on his credit card and later recognised Li in images posted to online news aggregation and discussion website Reddit.

Police further allege that Li used false identity details to stay at several Melbourne hotels – including Rydges, Crowne Plaza and Le Méridien – where he committed additional acts of fraud.

This article was legally reviewed by LGBTIQ+ law firm Dowson Turco Lawyers. Do you know more? Contact us via DM on Instagram @gaysydneynews.