A serial conman who fabricated an entire Magistrates Court order – complete with a fake stamp and a real magistrate’s name – to wipe his credit record has been jailed.
Kane Scott Dallow, 45, pleaded guilty to 28 charges spanning fraud, forgery and perverting the course of justice across three separate crime sprees between 2018 and 2023.
Dallow’s criminal history stretches back to 1999 and includes convictions for impersonating a police officer, fraud and deception offences in South Australia and Tasmania.
Supreme Court Justice Robert Pearce sentenced Dallow this week, singling out the fake court order as “particularly serious”.
“The court order document is completely false, highly dishonest and amounts to an impersonation of a court making an order,” Justice Pearce said.
Dallow created the bogus order in 2023 after his release from prison, directing credit agency Equifax to remove adverse records from his file.
His latest offending began in 2018 when he used stolen identities to apply for credit cards and loans, presenting himself as a journalist running an ultimately unsuccessful website called “TAS News 24”.
He later told the court he needed the money to keep up appearances.
Although most applications were declined, he still racked up more than $20,000 in credit card debt and fraudulently financed a $59,500 car through Toyota Finance.
When he defaulted on repayments, he forged bank receipts and lodged them with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
In 2021, while defending Federal Court defamation proceedings over his website, Dallow fabricated an affidavit from a fictitious woman named “Hannah Kilks” and filed it with the court.
Police later found no record that such a person existed.
“Your conduct during the Federal Court proceedings manifested a complete disregard for the law, the integrity of the proceedings and the authority of the court,” Justice Pearce said.
Dallow served nine months in prison for contempt but resumed offending within months of his release, forging legal documents to reinstate his suspended driver’s licence and avoid further police charges.
He fled to Queensland in April 2024 after skipping bail and was extradited in November, leaving behind his husband and four-year-old daughter.
Justice Pearce acknowledged prison would be difficult for Dallow’s family but said “the impact on family is part of the price to be paid for serious crimes”.
“You claim to have mended your ways but you will have to demonstrate that with your conduct,” he said.
Dallow was convicted and sentenced to two years behind bars.
He will be eligible for parole after 15 months.
