A man who briefly went missing on a charity walk from Darwin to Perth has been revealed as having been convicted of multiple fraud offences in Queensland.
A supporter of Zac Chapman, 29, contacted the police last week when they became concerned for his welfare.
The police searched for him on a remote section of the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley region of WA and found his abandoned trolley and water around midday near the Durack River Crossing in 40C heat.
They then found Chapman less than an hour later at Ellenbrae station, 25km away, and brought him to Kununurra, the West Australian reported.
It has since emerged that in August 2020 Chapman was jailed for two years after pleading guilty in Cairns Magistrate Court to 31 fraud-related charges.
He had used the online trading site Gumtree to make false advertisements about goods for sale and then took deposits and payments for items that were never supplied.
Police estimated that Chapman made tens of thousands of dollars from the scam.
At the time he was charged, Detective Acting Inspector Jason Smith alleged that one of Chapmans methods of operation was that he would respond to people that wanted to buy a product.
Zac Chapman, who briefly went missing on a charity walk from Darwin to Perth, has been revealed as having been convicted of multiple fraud offences in Queensland
He would make contact and say that he had that item for sale. Once they sent payment the fictitious item was never sent, the inspector told the Cairns Post.
When he went missing last week, Chapman was trying to walk from Darwin to Perth on his own to raise money for the Black Dog Institute, a mental health charity.
The charity said he is a registered fundraiser who had raised $32,450 as of September 11, but on Monday Chapman posted on Facebook that I do stand by my decision to no longer walk.
Not because Im giving up or anything as such, a few things happened, a few things you know about and a few things you dont.
I simply just want to be on my own and to focus on myself which is something I havent done for a VERY long time.
In another post Chapman discussed his past convictions for fraud saying: I have no shame in speaking about my past.
I made significant leaps and bounds to be the best version of myself that I can be.
On Wednesday afternoon, he posted that he was gonna go live on here soon have a chat with you all and explain this f***** situation.
Chapman halted his attempt to walk from Melbourne to Perth earlier this year due to personal health reasons, a Black Dog Institute spokesperson told The Kimberley Echo.
In August 2020 Chapman was jailed for two years after pleading guilty in Cairns Magistrate Court to 31 fraud-related charges
Chapman had a do-it-yourself funding-raising page allowing people to develop their own challenges to raise money for the charity.
All funds through this platform are directly donated to the Black Dog Institute, the spokesperson said.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Chapman defrauded or is suspected of defrauding any donors in relation to his abandoned fundraising.
Chapman and the Black Dog Institute have been contacted for further comment.