Accused Albany fraudster Rochelle Phyllis Arends locked up after ‘bail breach’, hit with drug-driving charge

An alleged Albany fraudster who was given “one chance” by a magistrate after she breached bail earlier this month is behind bars after allegedly breaching her bail again. The 23-year-old has also been hit with three additional charges relating to a driving incident on May 21, when she allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine and cannabis after she was stopped by police in the early hours of the morning. Rochelle Phyllis Arends is accused of stealing at least $25,000 from elderly and vulnerable people in Albany, and faces 11 counts of fraud and seven counts of stealing. At her first court appearance on June 3, Ms Arends was granted bail with a 24-hour curfew. On June 14, she appeared in court after breaching her bail conditions, with Magistrate Dianne Scaddan renewing her bail. “I’ll give you one chance until July 1, otherwise it is open to me to put you in custody,” Ms Scaddan said. “Don’t start this nonsense, the court will not buy into your attempts, poor as they are, to convince us you’re doing something else to get around. The police and I didn’t come down in the last shower. You are on police radar and they will be on the lookout.” Ms Arends was allegedly arrested on Saturday and remanded in custody after another breach of bail. Police say she was going to the hospital to seek medical treatment for a toothache, but instead visited an address in Spencer Park. Detective Acting Insp. Darryl Noye said Ms Arends knocked on the door and spoke to a man at the residence, who identified her from a photograph he had seen in the Advertiser. The man called police, who found no sign of Ms Arends at Albany Health Campus, Acting Insp. Noye said. She was later arrested making her way to the hospital, he said. Ms Arends is in custody and is due to face Albany Magistrate’s Court on July 1. She is due to face the court on July 13 in relation to the May 21 incident on charges of driving with an illicit substance in her system, careless driving and no authority to drive.