The fugitive former brother and coach of Socceroos star Garang Kuol has been found guilty of a brazen banking scam, using counterfeit money, dealing cocaine and fleeing police.
Kuol Mawien Kuol, who is also the brother of rising soccer star Alou Kuol, had been on the run since July 2022 after failing to appear in court and jumping bail on fraud charges, including defrauding a veteran of World War II while working for National. Bank of Australia.
Now behind bars at Victoria’s Ravenhall Correctional Centre, the 26-year-old’s savage crime spree was detailed in a Victorian court on Tuesday.
It included him selling cocaine to undercover police officers, keeping drug “rocks” in his home and posing as his other soccer star brother, Alou Kuol, using his driver’s license.
The Victorian Magistrates Court hearing was told Kuol was eventually caught at Sydney’s Star Casino in breach of his bail conditions which prevented him from leaving Victoria.
Kuol had secretly fled the state for New south Wales where he began managing his little brother.
Kuol Mawien Kuol (right) and soccer star Alou Kuol are pictured in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Kuol Mawien Kuol was wanted in Victoria for fraud
Kuol Mawien Kuol (right) is a conman who professes to manage his successful Socceroos star brother Garang (left).
Meanwhile, back in Victoria, he had another Sudanese-Australian bail-registered by posing as him at a major Melbourne police station.
When the police finally caught wind of the scam, The rogue player’s agent took to social media to mock a Victoria Police detective tasked with arresting him and accuse cops of stealing $120,000 from him.
He sat passively scribbling in a notebook from prison as his daring crime spree was read out in court after he pleaded guilty and several charges were dropped.
Kuol had worked as a cashier at NAB branches in Shepparton and Kyabram in northern Victoria, where he brazenly fleeced customer accounts of around $63,000.
Three victims were between 70 and 80 years old and the oldest was a man who was robbed of $28,200.
The 95-year-old World War II returnee, who was Kuol’s most targeted victim, was robbed of the account into which his war pension was deposited in six hits of between $500 and $9,200 over eight weeks around the Christmas 2020.
Kuol, who uses the Twitter username @kuoloneking, also stole $2,000 from an 84-year-old woman, who has been a NAB customer since 1969, even as she stood at his Shepparton branch talking to him.
Kuol Mawien Kuol mocked the police on Twitter before deleting the post and his entire profile.
Kuol Mawien Kuol claimed police stole $120,000 from him, nearly double the amount he is accused of stealing from bank customers.
Kuol Mawien Kuol, pictured in Sudan with an AK-47, was arrested by Victoria Police’s gang crime team on Thursday.
In other Victoria Police charges, the court heard that while on bail and driving with a suspended licence, Kuol met a man at Diamond Creek in Melbourne in November 2020, after agreeing to buy his PlayStation 5 for $1,300.
Kuol paid with 13 counterfeit $100 bills, and as soon as the seller showed his parents the money, they knew it was fake.
Weeks later, police found Kuol in bed at his parents’ home in Shepparton, in possession of two iPhones, cannabis and a counterfeit $100 note.
In December 2020, Shepparton Highway Patrol arrested Kuol for speeding. He showed them the driving license of his brother Alou Kuol, who lives on the Gold Coast.
There is no suggestion that Alou permitted any alleged use by Kuol of his licence.
In March 2021, the court heard, Kuol sent a series of messages via social media app Wickr offering cocaine for sale, with the exchange to take place at Pegasus Apartments in Melbourne.
Unknown to Kuol, his buyers were undercover Victorian police officers, and although Kuol did not physically sell the 13 grams of cocaine for $3,250, he negotiated to have two men deliver it to him and then confirmed the transaction through Wickr.
Forensic analysis later showed that the business contained nine grams of cocaine with a concentration of 28 percent.
Kuol Mawien Kuol (left) is pictured with his brother Garang (right), who is currently playing on loan at FC Volendam after signing for Newcastle United.
When police raided a residence in Glenroy, Melbourne, where Kuol had moved without informing bail officials of his change of address, they found “white stones” and cannabis and charged him with possession.
Magistrate Adriano Serratore considered all charges proven, along with the breaches of his bail plea, and partially adjourned the hearing until next week.
Kuol claims to manage the “football affairs” of both Garang and Alou, who signed a five-year contract with German side VfB Stuttgart last year.
Garang became instantly famous around the world in December when he narrowly missed a shot on goal against Argentina in the World Cup that would have tied the Socceroos.
Koul claims he helped negotiate a $500,000 Premier League deal for Garang while still on the run from Australian authorities.
Just days after making his international debut for the Socceroos, Garang secured a lucrative transfer to Newcastle United and was loaned out to Scottish club Hearts.
He now plays on loan for the Dutch football club FC Volendam.
Garang Kuol narrowly missed a goal that would have tied the Socceroos against Argentina in last year’s World Cup (pictured)