Director of Public Prosecutions v Altunkaya
[2025] VCC 751
•6 June 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-24-01563
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| BATIN ALTUNKAYA |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE KELLY | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 6 May 2025 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 6 June 2025 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Altunkaya | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 751 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime — Attempt to recklessly deal with proceeds of crime – fraudulent transfer of funds – young offender – unsophisticated role in scheme – good prospects of rehabilitation – guilty plea – Verdins – denunciation – rehabilitation a primary factor
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:R v Mill [1998] 4 VR 235; R v Verdins (2007) 6 VR 269; Hogan v Hinch (2011) 243 CLR 506
Sentence: 3 year Community Correction Order
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr G. Mohammed (Sentence Indication) Mr A. Moore (Plea) | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr S. Thomas | Balmer & Associates |
HIS HONOUR:
Introduction
1Batin Altunkaya, you have pleaded guilty to three charges of recklessly deal with proceeds of crime and one charge of attempt to recklessly deal with the proceeds of crime.
2The maximum penalties for these offences are as follows:
(a) Recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime – 10 years' imprisonment.
(b) Attempt to recklessly deal with proceeds of crime – 5 years' imprisonment.
Summary of offending
3In March 2023, Rachel Hsu instructed WMG Legal to assist her in purchasing a property. On 27 June 2023, she received an email from a WMG Legal email address under the name of Imran Quisar. She communicated with this email address for months.
4On 15 November 2023, Ms Hsu received an email from Mr Quisar with an itemised breakdown of a property sale valued at $1,047,273.66. She was instructed to transfer that sum into an account purporting to be a WMG trust account. The account details were, in fact, yours.
5Ms Hsu transferred the full amount into this account. You received $1,047,273.66 on 23 November 2023. This offending is the subject of Charge 1 – Recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime.
6
After receiving the funds, you contacted Diamond Line Jewellery and on
27 November 2023 you attended their office in Melbourne to purchase 157.02 ounces of gold bullion valued at $500,000. You produced a photo of your Victorian driver's licence and used your ANZ card to make the payment. This offending is the subject of Charge 2 – Recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime.
7On 28 November 2023, WMG Legal confirmed with Ms Hsu that they had not received the settlement funds. ANZ was notified of the fraudulent transfer and froze your accounts.
8On 29 November 2023, you again attended at Diamond Line Jewellery and attempted to make another purchase of gold bullion valued at $500,000. This offending is the subject of Charge 3 – Attempt to recklessly deal with proceeds of crime.
9On 30 November 2023, investigators from the Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit were notified of the incident. They liaised with Diamond Line Jewellery and discovered that you were due to attend the store and collect the gold that afternoon. Staff at Diamond Line Jewellery provided investigators with CCTV stills and a photograph of your driver's licence.
10At 3:05pm that afternoon, you attended Diamond Line Jewellery with your brother, Samed Altunkaya, and collected the gold that you had purchased on 27 November 2023. This offending is the subject of Charge 4 – Recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime.
11You and your brother were arrested. Two other men, Muhammed Celik and Cihan Gocmen, who had arrived with you and your brother, were also arrested outside the Diamond Line Jewellery office.
Circumstances of offender
12You were 20 years old at the time of offending,
13You were born in Turkey and immigrated to Australia when you were three or four years old. I am told that your parents separated when you were young. Your mother lives in Turkey. You remain in contact with her. You currently have no relationship with your father who lives in Dandenong. You have three siblings, and I am advised that you maintain a close relationship with your brother who lives in Australia. Your older sister also lives in Australia, but you apparently have no contact with her.
14You left school after Year 10 and commenced a plumbing apprenticeship which you failed to complete. Since then, you have worked as a food assistant and a labourer. I am advised that you experienced bullying at school due to learning difficulties and that you consumed alcohol from the age of 16 to 18 to cope.
Defence Submissions
15Mr Thomas relied on your relatively early guilty plea, your youth and your lack of prior convictions. He took me to the psychological report of Sandra Cokorilo, where you were assessed as a low risk of re-offending.
Prosecution Submissions
16Mr Mohammed, who prosecuted at the sentence indication, conceded that a community correction order with some punitive conditions is within range.
Gravity of Offending & Moral Culpability
17Mr Thomas submitted that your role in the scheme is low-tier and unsophisticated. Your actions were performed at the direction of others and you were not the mastermind behind the manipulation of WMG Legal's trust account. He argued that Charges 2, 3 and 4 represent a conversion of the proceeds the subject of Charge 1. He submitted that the quantum obtained and handled totals $1,047,273.66, merely.
18Mr Thomas submitted that half of the funds have been refunded. He said a freezing order would be unopposed and it would enable the victim to receive the balance outstanding. It is therefore expected that the victim will be restored to the position she occupied prior to your deceptions, albeit settlement was doubtlessly delayed and she has been without approximately $500,000.00 of her money since November 2023. Your offending will have caused her significant anxiety at least.
19You artlessly admitted your part in this offending when interviewed by police, telling them that you purchased the gold and used your bank account to do so.[1]
[1] Prosecution Opening at [48].
20You told police that you had been approached by another male about two to three weeks before your arrest. You said he asked if you wanted to make some money and you knew that things sounded 'a bit shifty'.
21Mr Mohammed argued that you minimised your role in your police interview, particularly in relation to the quantum where you told police you thought the other man had transferred you 'between 500 to 1 mill'.
22I accept that your role was unsophisticated. However, you were required to take a number of steps in pursuit of this plan: you had to attend the ANZ bank; you had to persuade them to unfreeze the funds and you had to attend the gold retailer and negotiate the purchase of bullion. Your participation was central to the success of the operation. The amount is substantial. You hoped to gain $50,000 to $100,000 in payment. It is concerning that a law firm's trust account can be hacked in this way and that a client's information can be manipulated. The sum is substantial and this offending has the potential to undermine confidence in the impregnability of trust accounts.
23That said, since the offending, your victim has been refunded approximately half of what was taken. I am informed that there is currently an order restraining the gold bullion and your victim's compensation claim will be dealt with in a separate proceeding. Both parties agree that your victim will eventually be refunded in full. That reduces somewhat the objective gravity of your offending. I accept that your offending falls within the mid-range.
Prospects of Rehabilitation
24Mr Thomas submitted that your prospects of rehabilitation are very good, citing the psychological report of Sandra Cokorilo, your lack of prior convictions, and your performance on bail.
25
I was provided with psychological reports from Sandra Cokorilo dated 6 November 2024 and 5 May 2025. Ms Cokorilo initially assessed you as a low risk of
re-offending, noting your ongoing stable employment, living arrangements and abstention from substance abuse or involvement with anti-social peers.
26You were assessed by Corrections Victoria as suitable for a community correction order. I was also provided with a report prepared by Forensicare dated 7 March 2025. The author of that report recommended mental health treatment be made a condition of any community correction order.
27I accept that your prospects of rehabilitation are good, and I have taken this into account in determining your sentence.
Guilty Plea
28On 6 March 2025, I indicated that if you were to plead guilty, I would likely impose a maximum total sentence of a three-year community correction order. You accepted that indication and pleaded guilty on that day. Although your matter proceeded to committal, you cross-examined no witnesses.
29Mr Thomas submitted that there was a serious triable issue in this case and that your relatively early plea has saved significant court resources and facilitated the course of justice.
30Mr Mohammed submitted that the court ought to be cautious before accepting that you are remorseful for your offending. He said you minimised your role when interviewed and the prosecution case is strong.
31Pleas of guilty are not inevitable in the face of strong or even overwhelming prosecution cases. I have discounted your sentence to reflect the administrative saving represented by your pleas. I also accept that you have facilitated the course of justice, and I accept that your pleas demonstrate remorse.
Youth
32Given your age at the time of offending, the principles in R v Mill are enlivened.[2] Accordingly, your rehabilitation takes centre stage unless the objective gravity of your offending displaces that consideration.
[2] [1998] 4 VR 235.
33Although this is serious offending, the consequences to your victim are largely capable of being mitigated by returning the misappropriated funds to her. You have no criminal history, and you have decent prospects. Your rehabilitation is therefore a central sentencing objective.
Verdins
34Mr Thomas submitted that limbs 1, 5 and 6 of Verdins are enlivened. Mr Moore conceded that limbs 5 and 6 are engaged but disputed that limb 1 was enlivened in the circumstances.
35In her neuropsychological report dated 8 January 2025, Dr Linda Borg wrote:
Taken together, the available evidence indicates that Mr Altunkaya's neurodevelopmental disabilities and psychiatric profile are potential contributors to his offending.
36Mr Thomas referred to Dr Borg's assessment in submitting that a connection exists between your mental impairment and your offending, and that therefore limb 1 is enlivened. Mr Thomas cited paragraphs 43 and 44 of Dr Borg's report, which assert that your offending was not due to antisocial tendencies, but due to your diagnoses.
37Mr Thomas conceded that the engagement of limb 1 is not a powerful matter in mitigation. He submitted that it should be considered in determining the amount of unpaid community work you are required to complete on a community correction order.
38I accept that limbs 5 and 6 are enlivened. I do not accept that limb 1 is engaged. Dr Borg's opinion is tentative and there is therefore an insufficient foundation for concluding that your moral culpability is reduced. I have adjusted your sentence to reflect that undergoing a prison term would weigh more heavily on you than a person in normal health. I have further adjusted your sentence acknowledging that your conditions are likely to worsen if you were imprisoned.
Sentencing Principles
39Pursuant to s 5 of the Sentencing Act 1991, the purposes for which you are to be sentenced are:
(a) To punish you in a manner and to an extent which is just in all of the circumstances;
(b) To deter you or others from committing similar offences in future;
(c) To facilitate rehabilitation;
(d) To manifest the denunciation of your conduct;
(e) To protect the community; or
(f) A combination of two or more of these purposes.
40Your offending needs to be denounced. The community needs to have confidence in institutions such as banks and trust accounts. Any attack on a trust account erodes the community's faith in the institutions undergirding commerce. The community in turn pays for any attacks on these institutions in the form of higher fees and interest rates. The amount you accessed was substantial. Each of us is vulnerable to identity theft and the community is justifiably anxious about its prevalence.
41
Given your age, your remorse, and the application of Verdins, I have concluded that your rehabilitation should be a primary factor in your sentence.
A community-based order can punish you and provide guardrails to ensure that you do not reoffend.
42As the High Court found in Hogan v Hinch,
Rehabilitation, if it can be achieved, is likely to be the most durable guarantor of community protection and is clearly in the public interest.[3]
[3] (2011) 243 CLR 506 at [32].
CCO Conditions
43What I am proposing to do at this stage, as part of your sentence is record convictions and place you on a community correction order for a period of three years from today's date.
44Before I ask you if you consent to such an order being made, I have to tell you a bit about it, so that you know what it means.
45The following Core conditions apply to all community correction orders:
(a) You must not commit, whether in or outside Victoria, during the period of the order, an offence punishable by imprisonment.
(b) You must report to and receive visits from the Secretary to the Department of Justice, or his or her nominee, during the period of the order.
(c) You must report to the Community Correction Centre at Coolaroo within two clear days following your release from custody; two clear days from today.
(d) You must notify the Secretary, or his or her nominee, of any change of address or employment within two clear working days after that change.
(e) You must not leave Victoria except with the permission of the Secretary to the Department of Justice, or his or her nominee.
(f) You must comply with any direction given by the Secretary that is necessary for the Secretary to give to ensure you comply with the Order.
46Now do you understand all of that?
47OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
48HIS HONOUR: There are a number of other conditions attached to the order, and they apply to you, so just listen to these:
(a) You have to perform 300 hours of unpaid community work over a period of three years as directed by the Regional Manager. 100 hours of treatment and rehabilitation satisfactorily undertaken are to be counted as hours of unpaid community work for the purposes of the unpaid community work condition.
(b) You must be under the supervision of a Community Corrections Officer for a period of three years.
(c) You are required to be supervised, monitored and managed as directed by the Secretary, or his or her nominee.
(d) You must undergo mental health assessment and treatment including (but not limited to) mental health, psychological, neuropsychological and psychiatric treatment in a hospital or residential facility as directed by the Regional Manager.
(e) You must undergo programs or courses aimed at addressing factors relating to the offending as directed by the Regional Manager.
49Do you understand all of that?
50OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
51HIS HONOUR: If an appointment is made for you with a mental health practitioner, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a neuropsychologist, you have to go.
52I direct that I be advised by your Corrections Officer of any non-compliance of these conditions and I will then determine if the matter should be brought back before me.
53If you contravene or breach that order by committing further offences you can be charged and a sentence of imprisonment is one of the options that I have for that breach.
54You can also be re-sentenced for these charges. One of the options available would then include a term of imprisonment.
55That means you need to be extra careful for the next three years. You cannot commit any further offences that might attract a gaol term, otherwise you come back before this Court and you will be re-sentenced on these charges.
56I also advise that if you fail to comply with any direction of the Secretary to the Department of Justice, that is a Community Corrections officer, as part of this order, a substantial fine can be imposed.
57Now you are aware of all of that?
58OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
59HIS HONOUR: And do you consent to being placed on a community correction order?
60OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
Sentence
61Very well. Mr Altunkaya, please stand.
62On Charge 1, recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, on Charge 2, recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, on Charge 3, attempt to recklessly deal with proceeds of crime and on Charge 4, recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, you are convicted and sentenced to an aggregate sentence of a community correction order of three years with the conditions I have just set out.
63Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I declare that but for your pleas of guilty I would have convicted you and sentenced you to an aggregate nine-month gaol term, followed upon your release by a community correction order of three years' duration.
64No ancillary orders sought?
65COUNSEL: No, Your Honour.
66HIS HONOUR: Very well. I thank the parties.
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