French burglars used AI and social media to target Canberra home

Court documents have revealed how a French burglar used artificial intelligence and images posted to social media to locate a home containing luxury goods in Australia.

He, along with three other French nationals, stole a haul of designer jewellery, handbags and watches from a home in Canberra's south in October last year, before being arrested at a fast food outlet in Sydney just days later.

Ilyes Abdelkader, Mohamed Abdelkader, Mohamed Naimi and Antoni Voisin pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary and joint commission theft in March, but their lawyers disputed the total value of the stolen items.

When charges were laid in December, police said some of the stolen goods — including designer handbags — had been recovered from a short-term rental property in Wentworthville, Sydney, while other items were located by French authorities.

But several items the victims claimed were still missing, including a Richard Mille RM88 (Smiley) watch worth $5 million, were yet to be returned.

In a hearing in the ACT Supreme Court today, prosecutors tendered an agreed statement of facts, which revised the total value of the goods down from its original figure of $10 million to just under $2 million, with some of the items still unrecovered.

"The victims have not been able to produce any documentation such as receipts, proof of purchase, transaction records, or certificates to prove the authenticity of those items."

How thieves identified Canberra home

The document also noted how one of the victims had posted images of the luxury goods on Instagram.

Ilyes Abdelkader used artificial intelligence to determine a cherry blossom tree in one of those images was usually found in Canberra, while another image contained Black Mountain tower — also in the ACT.

The victim had also posted photos of her backyard containing a swimming pool and tennis court.

Mr Abdelkader used ChatGPT to search for suburbs in Canberra with tennis courts and pools and located the home.

He and the three other men then flew from Thailand to Sydney on October 7.

The group broke into the home in Canberra a few days later, while the victims were out, using tree trunks to smash a window and gaining access to a safe which the victims thought had been left locked.

The men later used a freight service to send some of the now-recovered belongings to France.

They were arrested at a KFC in Wentworthville, Sydney, on October 19 and have been in custody since.

The ACT Supreme Court will set a date for their sentencing next week.

Court documents note goods valued at $915,000 have been returned, while items with an agreed value of more than $1 million are still outstanding.