Police Have Allegedly Seized $220K From A Sydney Fitness Model’s Home

Stepanyan

27-year-old fitness model/marketing exec Katiusha Stepanyan could face 10 years sporting orange after police have allegedly seized $220,000 from her bedroom in her family’s home in North Ryde.

A further amount of $10,000 in the home’s lounge room was allegedly stashed and seized by police. Subsequently, she’s been charged with two counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The police allege that the cash could be linked to some pretty hectic drug offences – and the NSW Crime Commission has won an order from the NSW Supreme Court to put her assets on ice, freezing things like her bank accounts.

She’s yet to have entered a plea, but her lawyer says she denies any guilt:

“My client maintains her innocence and at this stage of proceedings she is entitled to that presumption”.

Court-lodged documents show police weren’t keen on letting Stepanyan out on bail for several reasons including an expression that she may fail to appear at court proceedings, the seriousness of her charges and whether she has criminal associations.

“The accused resides with persons known to have been convicted of serious indictable offences.”

Stepanyan’s brother, Dimitri​, got out of jail in October 2016 after serving most of a 10-year sentence for the armed robbery of Forestville RSL Club in which $25,000 was stolen.

It is alleged that the siblings “cased the premises” together – having both signed into the RSL with their legit names. A security guard known by both of them agreed to be shot as a part of an inside job. It still hasn’t been established which one of them fired the gun.

Her case will return to local court in Jan. A Supreme Court hearing in November heard that financial investigations are continuing by the Crime Commission and the matter will be addressed in the court again in February.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV