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By ZAK WHEELER, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Published: 13:11 GMT, 2 January 2026 | Updated: 13:11 GMT, 2 January 2026

Warehouse giant Bunnings has been scammed out of almost $20,000 by a cunning career criminal who once escaped prison.

Mark Edward Tazelaar, 44, allegedly used the hardware giant's 'full refund' policy on recalled items against it to return near-identical items that cost half the price from Kmart in 2022. 

An international safety recall prompted Bunnings to request its customers return all Mill Electrical Convection Panel heaters, each which cost $200.

Tazelaar allegedly noticed Kmart's standard convection heaters looked remarkably similar to Mill's while only retailing for $69.

Police will allege Tazelaar capitalised on this coincidence in order to return $19,000 worth of the heaters Bunnings was seeking. 

Tazelaar allegedly delivered these lookalikes to several Bunnings stores for a full refund during the buy-back period, according to court documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court and seen by the Daily Telegraph.

He allegedly carted Kmart's heaters into Bunnings by the trolley-load before asking for his money back. 

Officers claim the scheme was in effect across 16 Bunnings stores across Sydney, including Penrith, Narellan, Ashfield, Thornleigh and Gladesville.

Mark Edward Tazelaar allegedly conned Bunnings out of $19,000 in 2022

Bunnings had recalled Mill Electrical Convection Panel heaters which cost $200 but Tazelaar allegedly took the opportunity to return a $69 look-alike from Kmart

Tazelaar was allegedly able to 'return' 69 heaters before being caught. 

On April 4, 2022, Tazelaar allegedly began his scam at Bunnings Smithfield where staff failed to notice the two heaters he bought in were from Kmart, police allege. 

Following this, Tazelaar allegedly continued returning the faux heaters in larger and larger quantities.

This culminated in two returns at Bonnyrigg and Casula where Tazelaar allegedly provided the stores with eight heaters each on April 12.

On the same day he also returned another six to the Narellan store which allegedly netted him $6,700 in a single day. 

Court documents allege Tazelaar was given differing refund amounts between the stores he visited.

It is also not clear based on the documents whether or not Bunnings staff inspected any of the heaters in order to confirm their authenticity. 

Staff allegedly failed to request any proof of purchase from Tazelaar as well.

Court documents revealed Tazelaar allegedly returned the near-identical heaters to 16 Bunnings stores across Sydney before anyone noticed

Tazelaar's last heater refund was allegedly recorded at Bunnings Valley Heights on April 15.

He has since been charged with 16 counts of obtaining a financial deception by advantage and has been in custody since July 2025. 

Any plea has yet to be entered but Tazelaar did unsuccessfully apply for bail.

The application was refused by Justice Desmond Fagan who found there was a high risk of Tazelaar reoffending. 

Despite Tazelaar's promise to abide by stringent conditions if released on bail, his prior criminal history hindered any chance that this request would be accepted.

This history included him having successfully escaped from Goulburn jail in 2018 where he had been serving his time as a minimum-security inmate.   

The case will return to court in the new year.