Director of Public Prosecutions v Neoh
[2014] VCC 229
•13 March 2014
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-14-00003 and CR-14-00004
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| FU YONG JOESON NEOH |
---
JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR PARSONS | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 25 February 2014 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 3 and 13 March 2014 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Neoh | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2014] VCC 229 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr P. Pickering | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr N. Howard | Turnbull Lawyers |
HIS HONOUR:
1 You, Mr Neoh, have pleaded guilty before me to two counts of false information contrary to the relevant provisions of the Migration Act and two counts of conspiracy to defraud. The circumstances of these crimes are fully set out in the summary of prosecution opening which is marked as Exhibit A.
2 You are a Malaysian citizen who travelled to Australia on a Malaysian passport under your name of Hoo Yuong Eoh on 8 August 2010. On 22 November 2010 you were arrested for using false credit cards and the following day you were sentenced in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on three charges of obtaining property by deception and one charge of attempting to commit an indictable offence. As a consequence of your conviction with respect to those matters, you were detained in migration detention, your visa was cancelled and you were deported to Malaysia on 31 December 2010. In February 2012 you changed your name in Malaysia to the name under which you were charged on indictment and applied for a new passport in that name. On 8 February 2012 you travelled to Australia on a new passport and falsely completed the incoming traveller card stating you were entering Australia for seven days for a holiday. You falsely declared that you had not previously been convicted of a criminal offence in Australia. On 7 May 2012 you applied for a temporary student visa. In that visa application you gave false information regarding your criminal history and the fact that you had been deported from Australia.
3 The background to the conspiracy to defraud with respect to what may be described as the shopping charge, is a matter that has been before me with respect to a number of your co-accused. In very broad compass, in September 2008 the Victoria Police commenced an operation with the Australian Federal Police into a syndicate which was involved in the importation, embossing and use of counterfeit credit cards and the recruiting of Malaysian nationals to use those cards.
4 Following the arrest of a number of persons in February 2012, a further operation was commenced which resulted in the arrest of a number of your co-offenders, whom I have already sentenced. This operation was known as Operation Synod. All of the co-offenders are Malaysian citizens, with the exception of Pham, who is an Australian citizen. Mr Ming Chi Tan, whom I have already sentenced with respect to his involvement in this matter, was involved in a number of incidents with you. The operations of the syndicate are described in some detail in the opening but effectively the syndicate members were divided into four types being the syndicate head, the controller, the driver and the shopper, and you are described as a shopper for the purposes of your involvement in this crime. Effectively, shoppers were paid on the average 10-15 per cent commission on the face value of goods purchased. Each shopper was supplied with fake identification. A counterfeit credit card contained the shopper’s name. The controller would contact the driver with a list of specific purchases and the counterfeit credit cards, and the driver then took the shoppers to the various stores and provided the shoppers with a list of purchases that were to be made.
5 As a result of the investigation, police identified you as a shopper for the syndicate. On 26 to 28 August 2012, and on 26 October 2012, you purchased goods which were later to be sold by or delivered to others. You were identified in 56 incidents involving the purchase of goods with fraudulent credit cards from Coles, Kmart and other stores. The number and locations of those offences are described in the Schedules A and B. All offences were committed in the company of Mr Tan, unless noted otherwise, and, in conclusion, you made 113 individual transactions at the stores with a total value of $68,134.80.
6 With respect to the other conspiracy to defraud, that is described at paragraph 29 of the opening. The complainant settled a property in December 2012 and then deposited $439,608 into his account. On 23 May 2013 that person was informed that in fact $495,000 had been transferred from his account. Investigations by the ANZ Bank with respect to that matter, which are set out in paragraph 32, showed that you were involved in the withdrawal of those monies from the complainant’s accounts to the value of $485,000. Your involvement is specified in the list of overt acts at paragraph 34 and I need not now repeat those particulars. What is clear is that $92,500 was withdrawn from the account between 23 May 2013 and 27 May 2013. Money was withdrawn from your ANZ account until the account was suspended due to the bank’s suspicion of fraudulent activity. On 5 August you were arrested and you made various answers to police questions which are set out in paragraph 46. You were remanded in custody.
7 There is no Victim Impact Statement in the matter.
8 As was pointed out by your counsel there are a number of mitigating factors. Firstly, you have pleaded guilty. You are entitled to have that fact taken into account in your favour and I do so. The community has by your plea been spared the time and cost of a trial and witnesses have been spared the ordeal of giving evidence upon your trial and I can tell you that the sentence I intend to impose is far less than would have been imposed had you been found guilty after a trial. Further, I take into account the circumstances of your plea of guilty. I note that you were apprehended in the circumstances described, and your remorse is evident from a document which was tendered on your behalf on 25 February in which you expressed your remorse.
9 I was told something of your personal history and your circumstances by your counsel, who explained to me you were born in 1975 in Malaysia and you attended primary and secondary school and reached the equivalent of Year 11. Your father is 72 and retired from the clothing industry and your mother is 66 and attends to home duties. You have one sibling, a 45 year old sister, who resides in Malaysia.
10 With respect to your post-school activities, you obtained a Diploma in Computer Software in 1995 before becoming a sales executive in a travel agency for three and a half to four years. You then moved to be employed as sales assistant in a software company for three years, until you then managed and owned a fruit shop in Georgetown, Malaysia, for two years with a friend. You then became an insurance agent as a part-time occupation for two years before you arrived in Australia in August 2010 at the age of 35. You worked in Robinvale in a farm for three months and then came to Melbourne where you worked in various Asian shops. The circumstances of your arrest, detention (which was on 23 November 2010 when you spent one day in custody) and deportation I have already averted to. You returned to Malaysia on 31 December 2010. In 2012 you met your fiancée in Malaysia. In 2012 you and your fiancée both returned to Australia where you worked in fruit shops as a sales assistant for 18 months, your de facto, Sylvia, studied for a business course. It was your desire and hers to make money in order to set you both up for your married lives together.
11 You have the one relevant prior conviction which I have described earlier.
12 A number of documents have been tendered by consent, which I have read, and I take their contents very much into account. It is clear during your time on remand you have enrolled for and successfully completing a great number of courses. That is something that stands to your credit. Further, there is the letter which you have addressed to the Court expressing your remorse, which I also take into account in your favour, and of course the other material that has been put before me. I am, on balance, satisfied the chances of your rehabilitation depend entirely on your ability to successfully reintegrate into the community in Malaysia when you are returned there from Australia after serving your term of imprisonment.
13 I must take into account parity of sentence and to that end I rely upon the chart which I was provided with by Mr Pickering, and which was received without objection from your counsel, and note that you fall towards the lower end of that chart of sentences as at 24 February.
14 As well as those matters personal to you to which I have referred, including the question of rehabilitation, I must also take into account such matters as deterrence, and especially general deterrence which is of considerable importance in a case such as this, involving as it does such a systematic and protracted fraud. I must bear in mind your role within the frauds which was limited to a number of days with respect to both matters.
15 Specific deterrence is clearly of importance given your one prior conviction in Australia, and I must also consider the question of the protection of members of the community from you and bear in mind the likelihood of your re-offending which I find to be problematic, in view of the lack of real detail about you and our circumstances.
16 I will make the various orders sought by the prosecution and not opposed by counsel on your behalf.
17 These are without doubt serious offences and in all the circumstances I have no alternative to the imposition of custodial sentences. You are convicted and sentenced as follows:
18 Charge 1, six months’ imprisonment commencing 3 March 2014.
19 Charge 2, nine months’ imprisonment commencing 3 March 2014.
20 Charge 3, two years and six months’ imprisonment.
21 Charge 4, two years and six months’ imprisonment.
22 I direct that Charge 4 be the head sentence and I direct that one year of Charge 3 and six months of Charge 2 and three months of Charge 1 be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on Charge 4 and each other and that results in a total effective sentence of four years and six months’ imprisonemnt I direct that you serve a minimum term of two years and three months imprisonment before becoming eligible for parole. Direct no parole period to be served on the Commonwealth sentencing.
23 As prescribed by s18(4) of the Sentencing Act, I declare that the period of time you have already spent in custody is 210 days and I direct that such be noted in the records of the Court. But for your plea of guilty, the sentence I would have imposed is five years and six months imprisonment.
0
0