A shop owner accused of being a key player in an illegal baby formula racket after falling on hard times has burst into tears as she is granted bail after spending a night in the police cells. 

Tram Huynh Bao Phan, 41, was arrested by police at her south-west Sydney shopfront on Tuesday morning after police were tipped off by suspicious local business people.

Phan is accused of on-selling tins of formula at her Bankstown shopfront that a drug addict had allegedly stolen from a Coles supermarket.

The alleged thief Curistos Filippopoulos, 45, took up to $965 a day in baby formula from the franchise’s Clemton Park store, court documents said.

At one point he allegedly stole tins from the shop five days in a row. 

The pair are accused of having an arrangement where the formula was delivered to Phan in shopping bags who then on-sold them to customers. 

Phan was visibly emotional as she was released on bail from the Sydney Police Centre on Wednesday evening and wept as she was reunited with her sister, who posted her $5,000 bail. 

When Daily Mail Australia approached her for a comment, the clearly distraught accused woman could only muster: ‘No, no, no, that’s all fine, thank you’.  

During her bail application, Magistrate George Breton was told Phan had previously run a Vietnamese cake store prior to starting up a shop based around baby formula.

Her business had apparently suffered ‘financial difficulties’ prior to the coronavirus crisis, the court was told.

Magistrate Breton said Phan had made ‘full admissions’ that she had ‘continued to participate in the syndicate’ because of it. 

Phan was charged with knowingly receiving stolen goods and six counts of recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime on Tuesday evening.

Phan’s solicitor, Mai Pham, told the court police had told her client had been ‘very compliant and cooperative’ in their investigations.

‘She is previously married and now separated, so a single mother, with three children, 12, nine and two,’ the solicitor said. 

‘She previously operated a business making cake and selling cake. She’s recently changed to this particular business.’ 

Filippopoulos was charged with 45 offences, including 35 counts of shoplifting, six counts of disposing of stolen property and driving while disqualified. 

When Filippopoulos’ lawyer, Veronica Love, applied for him to get bail, Magistrate George Breton marvelled at how the accused pair believed they could get away with the alleged scam. 

‘It’s a wonder they weren’t stopped in their tracks a long time before today or yesterday,’ Magistrate Breton said during his matter. 

‘They continued to act, naively, probably believing they were never going to be caught.’ 

He described the offence as ‘unsophisticated’ – involving Filippopoulos ‘loading up and walking out’ of Coles. 

He said based on the police facts ‘jail is an appropriate penalty’ for such serious offences.

‘She’s determined of her own volition to engage in the criminal syndicate,’ he said. 

Phan was granted $5,000 bail on conditions including she report to police weekly and surrender her passport.

The court heard Filippopoulos was a drug addict who was enrolled in a methadone program.

He sought bail but it was opposed by police prosecutor Jason Burt and he was remanded in custody.  

Both matters will return to court later this year. 

Police expect to make further arrests, with the court hearing two others were allegedly involved.