Director of Public Prosecutions v Tweedly
[2025] VCC 591
•15 May 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-23-01066
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| RAYMOND TWEEDLY |
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JUDGE: | Dalziel | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 28 February 2025 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 15 May 2025 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Tweedly | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 591 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Obtain financial advantage by deception; attempt to pervert the court of justice
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act
Cases Cited:DPP v Tweedly [2016] VCC 2037
Sentence: 7 years with a non-parole period of 5 years
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr D Brown | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Ms J Hotchkin | Slades & Parsons |
HER HONOUR:
1Raymond Tweedly, you have pleaded guilty to 3 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and 1 charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
2You come before this Court as a man with a significant history of dishonest offending, with multiple prior terms of imprisonment for such conduct. In December 2016 you were sentenced in the County Court to a total of 4 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 2 years. You were released on parole in late 2018. That sentence expired on 19 December 2020. The offending for which I will sentence you commenced in October 2020 and thus the first portion of Charge 1 was committed whilst you were on parole.
Summary of Offending
Charge 1 – Obtaining Financial Advantage by Deception
3In early 2020 you met Thomas Teunissen who lived near you, in Altona. You befriended him. You sought, and received, his compassion when you falsely told him your wife had died of cancer and your children were upset with you as you had supported your wife in choosing not to treat her illness with conventional medicine.
4You offered to sell Mr Teunissen a flat in a block you were developing. He made some enquiries of you, and from an accountant and a lawyer, and decided not to invest. The two of you remained friendly.
5Mr Teunissen told you his parents were in Europe and that he had always wanted to live there. You introduced him to the concept of ‘one dollar houses’. You told him you had a daughter, Kayla , who was living in Italy and that you had experience purchasing a one dollar house there. Whilst you do have a daughter named Kayla, she did not live in Italy then or at any time, nor was she in any way involved in your dealings.
6You identified some properties that were for sale during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Despite the lockdowns it was decided that Mr Teunissen would select a property, pay a deposit, and then visit when circumstances allowed, before paying the balance.
7Mr Teunissen selected a house priced at $200,000, and in October of 2020 transferred you a total of $21,300, to be used as a deposit. Mr Teunissen enquired about paperwork relating to the purchase. You told him that the overall price would be reduced by $10,000 and the paperwork would be completed faster if he paid a larger deposit. In January 2021 he transferred you further $20,600.
8Mr Teunissen repeatedly asked you for the paperwork. You told him the COVID-19 lockdowns were causing delays, and that your daughter was having difficulties in sorting out the paperwork.
9You told Mr Teunissen about another Italian property for sale, and in February 2021 he transferred $20,000 to you as a deposit. You refunded this deposit in September 2021 after Mr Teunissen pushed you for the paperwork. This was the only amount the subject of this charge which was repaid to the victim.
10You showed Mr Teunissen a further Italian property, claiming the owner was desperate to sell. Mr Teunissen paid you $23,000 across several payments in April 2021 as a deposit for this property.
11You discussed your daughter Kayla with Mr Teunissen, claiming that you were paying her salary, so that she could build a property management company. As I have already noted, this was not true. Mr Teunissen told you that Kayla should not be helping him for free, and he paid you $500 each on 3 separate occasions to cover her costs. He transferred you an additional $3,200 in May 2021 to cover the administrative costs of the property purchases.
12Mr Teunissen transferred a total of $91,600 to you between 8 October 2020 and 18 October 2021. $20,000 of this was refunded. Investigations into your bank accounts show that you did not use this money for the purchase of any properties in Italy. You spent this money on personal items and other expenses.
Charge 2 – Obtaining Financial Advantage by Deception
13The victim of this charge is Helen Pascoe. At the time she was 71 years of age. She was a semi-retired registered tax accountant. She had known the Harris family, as friends, for around 15 years. She was the accountant for the victim of Charge 3.
Background
14You met Shayne and Donna Harris in mid 2020, befriending them while you all walked your dogs together. You told them your wife had died from cancer, and asked them to help you to find a female partner.
15In May 2021 you told the Harrises about a deal you were working on under which ExxonMobil would invest $10 million in a company you would create. This was to be a large waste treatment plant in Altona. This business came to be called “No Waste”. You said you had invested substantial funds in this project, and had other investors who were willing to contribute to it.
16You showed Shayne Harris plans you claimed had been prepared by an engineer – at a cost of around $500,000. Later you showed him a report you said had been prepared by a local engineer. You asked for his help to put together a presentation for the state and federal governments.
17Mr Harris was unsure of whether the plant would be possible, and he approached Helen Pascoe to ask her opinion on what a potential business would be worth. She thought it could be worth billions provided the engineer’s letter regarding the plant’s capacity was correct.
18You assured Mr Harris that the engineer had shown this was possible, and he completed the presentation. The presentation was a coloured booklet called ‘No Waste Proposal 2021’ and it outlined the concept and included pictures and examples.
19In May 2021, Shayne and Donna Harris’s daughter held a birthday party. You and Helen Pascoe both attended. You told guests at the party that the ‘No Waste Proposal’ had received written offers from a variety of interested parties. You appeared ‘hyped up’ as a result of this. This party was the first time you met Helen Pascoe in person.
20You later showed Helen Pascoe these letters. You said you had travelled to Canberra on a private jet with your solicitor ‘Lachlan’, your girlfriend, and a local engineer. You said you had received a letter of approval from the Federal Government, State Government and ExxonMobil for the ‘No Waste Proposal’.
21Lachlan was the first name of a solicitor, from whom you obtained a draft contract and licence agreement for No Waste. He had no involvement in the matter other than preparing those documents for you, in good faith. You used his name several times in the course of these deceptions, suggesting that he was involved in important steps.
22You gave a detailed and personal narrative to Ms Pascoe, about why you had come up with the idea of No Waste. You provided her with a document purportedly from a global engineering company indicating a projected annual processing of more than 10 million tonnes of waste.
23You held regular meetings with Ms Pascoe and Mr Harris. The ‘No Waste’ company setup, and share allocations were discussed, and minutes and ASIC company documentation was signed. Ms Pascoe kept all these documents at her house. She had no knowledge that you were acting deceptively.
24You and Ms Pascoe attempted to estimate the value of the company once it was created. It was jointly agreed that the value of the company would be set at $10 billion.
25You told Ms Pascoe that you had been introduced through some lawyers to a Mr Palacios, a businessman looking for investment opportunities in Australia. You told Ms Pascoe that this Mr Palacios had asked you how much you would sell ‘No Waste’ for. You apparently told him $10 billion, he offered you $2 billion, and you eventually settled on a sale price of $3 billion.
26You regularly met with the Harris family. You complained to them that Ms Pascoe was requesting bank statements from you regarding the deal. You also would show Mr Harris that the solicitor Lachlan was calling you, and walk away to take the call.
27Ms Pascoe thought you ought to set the company up properly, by registering it with ASIC and allocating shares. You asked her for help and she provided you with her services for free. You reimbursed her for out of pocket expenses such as the ASIC registration fee.
28On 30 July 2021 Ms Pascoe registered ‘No Waste Pty Ltd’. One million shares were allocated, valued at $1 each. You were the sole director, and sole Class A shareholder. Some shares in the company were given out at no cost: Mr Teunissen received 20,000 shares, Ms Pascoe’s accounting company received 10,000 shares, and a private trust run by Ms Pascoe received 20,000 shares. Goran Temelkovski purchased 250,000 shares, and you received 700,000 shares.
29You showed a document to this group of shareholders which you claimed was a contract for the sale of ‘No Waste’ to Mr Palacios for $3 billion. You gave Ms Pascoe a copy of the contract, on the condition that she return it to you without copying it. You told the group that the deal was highly confidential and could fall over at any time, instructing them not to tell anybody about it.
30The financial advantage you obtained from Ms Pascoe, by deception, relates to the money she paid for purchasing shares of No Waste. During July 2021 Ms Pascoe bought an additional 50,000 shares in ‘No Waste’ for $50,000, and the trust she ran purchased 25,000 shares for $18,000, purportedly from shares owned by you. Thus the total amount subject in Charge 2 is $68,000.
31You asked Ms Pascoe to become a co-director of ‘No Waste,’ and she was appointed as a director on 27 April 2022.
32Ms Pascoe only discovered your fraud when detectives attended her address after your arrest to explain that she had been a victim.
Charge 3 – Obtaining Financial Advantage by Deception -
33Robert Gates was introduced to you by Ms Pascoe, who had acted as his personal account for the previous 10 years. She introduced him to you after you asked her if she knew about anyone else interested in investing in ‘No Waste’. Mr Gates was undergoing chemotherapy at the time.
34In late August 2021 Mr Gates discussed tax matters with Ms Pascoe, and she asked him if he was interest in an investment opportunity. Mr Gates thought the idea sounded good and a meeting between you was arranged.
35Shortly after this the three of you met and you gave Mr Gates an overview of the opportunity you claimed ‘No Waste’ provided. You gave him the ‘No Waste Proposal 2021’ and told him the Philippines Government was investing $800 million in the project, and the company value was $3 billion. You told him that all the paperwork, including engineering certificates and required legal documents had been completed. You never showed him any of these documents. At the end of the meeting Mr Gates told you he was interested in investing but did not give you an amount.
36In September or October 2021 you took Ms Pascoe and Mr Gates on a tour of the the public areas of the ExxonMobil site in Altona. In December 2021 you took Ms Pascoe to Sea Lake. You showed her the properties that you told her you had purchased, which she thought looked very good.
37You told Ms Pascoe that the deposit of $300 million had been paid into your solicitor’s trust account. You told her the money would remain in the trust account until the final settlement in 12 months. You showed her a low quality photocopy of the trust account receipt showing the $300 million deposit.
38You showed Ms Pascoe documents from Bendigo Bank which purported to show that there was enough cash available to cover the money which had been invested by other people. You held a birthday lunch in February 2022 where you showed Ms Pascoe, Mr Gates, and Mr Harris Bank of Melbourne documents which appeared to list deposits which covered the other shareholders’ investments (but not your own investment). Ms Pascoe recalls that the documents showed there was about $1.5 million in the account. Some of the statements appeared to be redacted. You told them that your Sea Lake properties were security covering their investments in ‘No Waste’.
39Following this meeting Mr Gates agreed to purchase 100,000 shared in No Waste from you at a price of $500,000. He transferred this amount from his superannuation fund to a bank account that you controlled on 7 September 2021. Later in September he purchased a further 50,000 shares from you for $250,000, again transferring the money from his superannuation into one of your bank accounts. You claimed that you were selling your shares because you did not want to be greedy.
40You continued to meet with Mr Gates, Ms Pascoe, and Shayne Harris, and assured them that everything was proceeding well, and that the maturity date for the company was 4 July 2022. Mr Gates’ understanding was that the contract with the Philippines Government would be honoured, and as a shareholder he would receive a windfall of 22.5% of the $3 billion company value.
41In February 2022 Ms Pascoe told Mr Gates that you wanted to diminish more of your shares, and asked whether he was interested in buying more. Mr Gates agreed to purchase 75,000 shares for $250,000 from you, and transferred the money to you on 28 February 2022.
42The total amount of the financial advantage you received from Mr Gates was $1 million.
Arrest
43You were arrested on 9 August 2022, and taken to Altona Police Station. You participated in a record of interview and held out the following:
(a) There was never a deal to sell ‘No Waste’
(b) There were no government contracts
(c) ‘No Waste’ had only ever been a concept
(d) The victims all knew that you were purchasing property and luxury cars with the money which they had transferred to you
(e) You denied ever telling the victims that ‘No Waste’ was being sold for $3 billion.
Charge 4 – Attempt to Pervert the Course of Justice
44You were charged on the day you were interviewed, in relation to the matters which I have just set out, and remanded in custody. Whilst you were on remand you had telephone conversations with Mr Temelkovski and the Harrises, which are the foundation of Charge 4, attempting to pervert the course of justice.
45On 28 March 2023, police obtained by warrant recordings of telephone calls between you and Goran Temelkovski. In those calls:
(a) You discussed convincing the victims in this matter to retract their statements
(b) You claimed you were innocent
(c) You claimed there was an ‘imminent deal’ for someone to buy ‘No Waste’ for $5 million.
(d) You asked him to tell witnesses that you had something like $2 million in assets “if it would help them” and it was their chance to make things happen.
(e) You instructed Mr Temelkovski to contact your solicitors, with a view to organising meetings with the victims to manage the retraction of their statements.
46You had conference calls with Mr Temelkovski, and with Shayne and Donna Harris, where you maintained your claim that there was a buyer willing to pay $5 million to purchase ‘No Waste’. You claimed that due to your presence in custody, and the police seizing your assets you were not able to complete the sale.
47You told the Harrises on multiple occasions that they needed to retract their statements so that you could get out of jail and complete this sale. You also told them that you suffered a stroke when you were first remanded, and that you blamed them.
Gravity of Offending
48In summary you are to be sentenced to obtaining a financial advantage totalling:
(i)Charge 1 - October 2021 to October 2022 – Victim Thomas Teunissen – $91,600;
(ii)Charge 2 – July 2021 to September 2021 – Victim Helen Pascoe – total $68,000; and
(iii)Charge 3 – September 2021 to February 2022 – Victim Robert Gates – total $1 million.
49Charge 1 involved deception of Mr Teunissen over the course of a year. You first preyed upon his compassion by telling the false story about your wife. You were persistent in your efforts to get him to invest money with or via you. You came up with multiple reasons to get him to transfer more money to you. Whilst you did pay him back $20,000 it appears that this was to maintain the appearance of legitimacy with him. As I have already noted, you were on parole when this offence started, with that parole period expiring on 19 December 2020.
50There is some overlapping of Charges 2 and 3, as you were relying on the same deception about No Waste.
51Your efforts to make No Waste and the purported sale of that company look legitimate were significant. These included:
· Using false engineering reports;
· Holding out that a legitimate lawyer was involved in the development of No Waste;
· Persuading Mr Harris to do work for you in preparing the proposal;
· Telling elaborate lies about your discussions with government officials and others;
· Presenting documents such as bank statements and receipts which were false; and
· Arranging for Ms Pascoe, who was acting in good faith, to register No Waste as a company.
52You were aware that Mr Gates was investing his superannuation in your false project. The amount of money you obtained from him was particularly significant. You utilised the deception you had perpetrated on Ms Pascoe to inveigle him into investing.
53Your conduct was similar in each of charges 1, 2 and 3, although the complexity of the deceptions carried out in No Waste deceptions was greater. You took advantage of the relationships you had built, and, in respect to Charges 2 and 3, the trust your victims had in each other. I consider each of those charges involved a high level of culpability.
54Charge 4 is not a low level instance of that offence. Whilst you did not use actual or threats of violence to try to get witnesses to withdraw their statements, you impliedly offered monetary benefit to them to do so. You were persistent in this, with multiple calls to Mr Temelkovski and conversations with the Harrises over the months of the charge period. Whilst your attempt to interfere with the administration of justice was not successful, your conduct was calculated to do so.
Victim Impact Statements
55Two victim impact statements were tendered at the plea hearing
Helen Pascoe
56Ms Pascoe, the victim of charge 2, described the anger that she felt at being tricked by a “smooth talking con artist.” She had thought she was contributing to an environmentally significant issue, and that she would receive a large financial return. She had intended to share her financial gains with friends, family, and charities.
57As a result of your offending she lost her deposit for an apartment in an independent living village. She also regrets that she is now unable to assist the Harrises with their health and living needs.
Robert Gates
58Mr Gates, the victim of Charge 3, describes feeling “manipulated and betrayed” by you. He began chemotherapy for a rare combination of cancers during the offending period, but due to your offending and the resulting compromise to his finances, he was consumed with attending to the legal and emotional impact, and had not been able to focus on his recovery.
59Mr Gates’ plans to give money to charities and to travel were compromised. He described having to restructure his life in order to pay bills and live off what money he had remaining. He is no longer able to provide for his family in the way that he planned, and feels that the importance of his working life and aspirations have been diminished as a result of your actions.
60Mr Gates described feeling withdrawn socially, and that he has a new mistrust of people which impacts his ability to socialise following your offending. He has cancelled social commitments and no longer enjoys playing golf, an activity he previously engaged in. He described feeling isolated from his family, and very vulnerable.
Personal Circumstances
61You were born in February 1958 and you are now 67 years old. You are the youngest of 4 children. You enjoyed a good relationship with both your parents and I was told that your childhood was largely unremarkable.
62You left school at 16 years old after completing Year 9. You undertook a carpentry apprenticeship. You worked for several building companies, and at various points, you say, you ran your own businesses. You also report that for around 25 years you ran a jiu jitsu club in Werribee, until the burden of that and working led you to cease that business.
63At 21 years old you left home, marrying your first wife. You and she were married for several years, and had three children together, Chris, Kayla, and Brandon, before you divorced in 2005.
64Your children are now in their 30s. I was told that Chris has had issues with substance use, and that your relationship with him is distant. Your relationship with Kayla is minimal. In her statement made around the time of your arrest she indicated that she had not seen you for 5 years. You have some contact with Brandon, however have not been in contact with him whilst in custody. Brandon has a son, who is your only grandchild, who you have not met. I am told Brandon is caring for your pet dog whilst you are in custody.
65You married your second wife in 2006. She had two children, who you refer to as your stepchildren, who are both now in their 30s. You and your second wife divorced in 2019.
66You say that around 7 years ago your father, mother, a sister, and a nephew all passed away within a period of around 4 months. You said that you were unable to attend any of these funerals as you were in custody at the time.
67The offending for which I must sentence you began in 2020. I was told that due to the COVID-19 lockdowns your alcohol use had increased significantly at this time, with you reportedly drinking up to a bottle of whisky per night at one point. You say that your son introduced you to cocaine, and that you used this drug sporadically, alongside your drinking. You say that as the lockdowns eased you moved your focus to renovating the Sea Lake properties. You report that you stopped using drugs and drinking alcohol in 2021.
68The sentencing reasons of Judge Quin in 2016 note a report from a forensic psychologist stating you presented with an adjustment disorder and depressed mood, related to being charged for those offences, and your inability to find a stable job. No updated psychological report was provided to me. I have not read Mr McKinnon’s report, as it was not tendered on this plea. I was told you are not presently prescribed with any medications.
Prior convictions
69As I have already noted, in December 2016 you were sentenced in this Court by Judge Quin for 4 charges of obtaining property by deception, 2 charges of having custody of a false document, and 4 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception. You convinced people whom you knew to enter a series of transactions which you falsely represented to be real estate investment opportunities. You obtained further funds from some of your victims by claiming they owed various fees and taxes. The total amount of money you obtained was $579,500.25.
70The deceptions carried out in those charges have similarities in method to the deceptions in the charges before me.
71You also have had a number of other dishonesty offences heard in the Magistrates’ Court.
Sentencing considerations
Pleas of Guilty and Remorse
72You have pleaded guilty, with the matter resolving at the second sentence indication hearing. In so doing you have acknowledged your guilt for each charge. You are entitled to a reduction in your sentence due to the significant utilitarian value of your pleas. Your acknowledgment of your offending has saved the time and cost associated with a trial, and you have saved the victims the stress of giving evidence.
73It was not submitted on your behalf that I could treat your pleas as an indication of contrition, although your admission of responsibility has value.
74I also have regard to the indication that you will not oppose compensation orders being made in the amounts of the loss to each victim, being:
(a) Thomas TEUNISSEN – in the amount of $71,600 (which has regard to the $20,000 which was previously repaid)
(b) Helen PASCOE – in the amount of $68,000
(c) Robert GATES – in the amount $1,000,000
75The submission of your counsel, which I accept, was that your consent to such orders demonstrates your cooperation with the authorities and acceptance of responsibility for this offending, in addition to your pleas of guilty. Whilst not indicating remorse, I do take your cooperation and consent into account in mitigation, noting that these orders also give the prospect of some reimbursement to the victims.
Prospects of Rehabilitation
76The charges for which I must sentence you are very similar to your previous offending, preying on the trust of people who knew you, and taking money from them without a care as to the position in which that would leave them. Judge Quin accepted in your previous matter that your pleas of guilty and your repayment of some of the lost funds to the victims indicated your remorse. You went on to offend again, putting more people through distress and hardship.
77I consider your prospects of rehabilitation are guarded. You have not been deterred by past sentences. Your persistent and planned deceptions of multiple people demonstrate you have no concern about the impact of your offending on others, instead pursuing your own financial benefit. That you would go on to try to persuade witnesses to retract their statements, whilst on remand, is a further indication of your focus on your own self-interest above all.
Totality
78When considering the orders for cumulation or concurrency, it is necessary to appreciate the totality of the offending, so as to ensure that the total effective sentence, and non-parole period, adequately reflect the entirety of the offending. As I have already noted, the frauds founding Charges 2 and 3 involved similar and overlapping conduct. At the same time there are two victims, and different representations made to them to obtain the financial advantage.
79Your counsel submitted that given your age, I should be careful not to impose a crushing sentence, that is a sentence which would engender a sense of hopelessness in you. Whilst I accept that a crushing sentence is generally to be avoided, this is not the only factor in sentencing you, and does not provide a basis for imposing an inadequate sentence.
Maximum Penalties/Continuing Criminal Enterprise offences
80The maximum penalty for Obtaining Financial Advantage by Deception is 10 years’ imprisonment. This is the maximum penalty for Charge 1. Your counsel accepted that Charges 2 and 3 are continuing criminal enterprise offences, and I will sentence you on that basis. This increases the maximum penalty for those charges to 20 years’ imprisonment.
81I must, in sentencing, have regard to the maximum penalty which applies to the charge. Whilst Charges 2 and 3 carry a maximum of 20 years’, in comparison to 10 years on Charge 1, this does not automatically mean the sentences will be longer.
82Sentencing for any charge involves an assessment of many factors. In this case the gravity of the charges varies, for example by reference to the quantum obtained, and your relationships with the victims. In respect to Charge 1, that you were on parole for some of the time. This is not an exhaustive list.
83Attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice carries a 25 year maximum penalty.
Comparable Cases
84Your counsel helpfully referred me to seven other cases involving deceptions. These cases have provided some assistance to me in understanding current sentencing practice. Of course other cases do not establish upper or lower limits on sentencing, as each case and person must be individually assessed.
Sentence
85Charge 1 – 3 years’ imprisonment
86Charge 2 – 3 years’ imprisonment
87Charge 3 - 5 years’ imprisonment
88Charge 4 – 18 months’ imprisonment
89The sentence on Charge 3 is the base. 3 months of the sentence on Charge 4, 9 months of sentence on Charge 1, and 1 year of sentence on Charge 2 are to be served cumulatively on each other and on sentence on charge 3.
90That leads to a total effective sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment. I set a non-parole period of 5 years.
91Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act I state that if you had not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to 10 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 8 years
92
I declare that you have already served 1010 days, not including today, of
pre-sentence detention.
93It is to be noted in the records of the Court that you are sentenced for Continuing Criminal Enterprise offences on Charges 2 and 3.
Ancillary Orders
94I will make the forfeiture, disposal, and compensation orders agreed between the parties.
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