Tesla car app allegedly used to target domestic violence victim
A disgraced businessman who allegedly used the Tesla car app to harass a woman has faced court charged with over two dozen domestic violence offences.
Enrico Pucci has pleaded not guilty to 27 offences, including seven counts of assault, seven counts of stalking or intimidating, one count of threatening to distribute an intimate image and one count of using a carriage service to threaten to kill. He also pleaded not guilty to two counts of larceny, one count of destroying or damaging property, and two counts of choking, one leading to unconsciousness.
Enrico Pucci was denied bail.Credit: Michael Howard
For his alleged abuse using the Tesla app, he was charged with one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend. The Tesla app can be used to track the car, lock or unlock the vehicle, control the car’s heating or air conditioning, and open or close the charge port.
Pucci is also charged with four counts for breaching an apprehended violence order protecting the woman, and one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception after allegedly using a fake employment contract to have the woman spend her life savings and spend money on Pucci on demand, according to court documents.
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The alleged incidents, all involving the same woman, occurred between 2020 and 2025 in Sydney’s north and north-west.
Earlier this month, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said connected cars were being used as sophisticated surveillance devices. In one instance reported to the commission, an abuser set up a virtual perimeter to stop the victim’s car from travelling more than a few kilometres from home.
Judge Peter Feather refused Pucci bail in Parramatta court this week, saying there was an “unacceptable risk” to the community if he were to be released on the $20,000 bond offered by the defence.
Feather said the prosecution’s case was “not a strong case, not a weak case” but he decided, due to Pucci’s “relatively lengthy” criminal history, including multiple driving convictions, that he could not be released on bail.
