Under the guise of a delivery driver, Mark Filiti managed to swindle thousands from small business owners to spend on his drug habit.
He walked into shops in Melbourne and regional Victoria, clutching a blue invoice book and would demand to be paid cash for the fake deliveries.
Filiti would claim to be delivering cooking oil, soft drink, booze or flour and often pretended to call the store's owner when questioned by workers.
He also posed as a sales representative and created fake invoices.
After employees emptied out their till and handed it to Filiti, he would promise to bring the stock over from his van but it would never arrive.
Filiti managed to steal $26,650 in cash from 20 businesses within six weeks of beginning his scheme in December 2022.
One business, Endota Spa in Hampton, handed him $10,450.
He pretended to be the chief executive officer of NQR supermarkets to fleece $2500 from its store in Werribee.
Other victims included bakeries, cafes, bottle shops, kebab stores and franchises Subway, Bakers Delight and Brumby's.
Victoria Police put out a search warrant to find Filiti at the end of January this year. He handed himself in the following month.
He pleaded guilty to 20 charges of obtaining cash by deception at Sunshine Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
His defence lawyer told the court Filiti, who has been in jail since his arrest on February 27, committed the thefts to fund an escalating drug habit.
She said his offending was born out of desperation, was unsophisticated and opportunistic, as she asked for Filiti to be handed a combined sentence of prison time and community work.
Magistrate Amina Bhai, who ordered Filiti be assessed for a community corrections order, disagreed that the crimes were opportunistic as he had planned to attend the premises of each business.
"He wasn't going about day-to-day business and then suddenly decided that he was going to offend," she said.
Given his significant criminal history, she said she would have to sentence him to more prison time than the 112 days already served.
Filiti, who appeared by video link from prison for the pre-sentence hearing, will be sentenced next week.
