R v Nguyen

[2020] NSWDC 367

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v Nguyen [2020] NSWDC 367

Hearing dates:

2 July 2020

Decision date:

16 July 2020

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

Mahony SC DCJ

Decision:

Full-time custodial sentence. For orders see [64]

Catchwords:

Money laundering; single offence of possession of money, reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime

Legislation Cited:

Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)

Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999

Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)

Evidence Act 1995

Cases Cited:

Ansari v R [2007] NSWCCA 204

R v Jiao [2015] NSWCCA 95

R v Kneebone (1999) 47 NSWLR 450; [1999] NSWCCA 279

R v Lin [2014] NSWCCA 254

Valentine v R [2020] NSWCCA 116

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth)
Yen Phi Nguyen (Offender)

Representation:

Counsel:
B Stevens (Crown)
B Levet (Offender)

Solicitors:
D Monieson
E Hirst (Cth Crown)

File Number(s):

19/60556

Publication restriction:

Nil

remarks on sentence

1. On 11 March 2020 the offender pleaded not guilty to one count on an Indictment as follows:

1. That she on or about 23 February 2019 at Bankstown in New South Wales, dealt with money or other property, it being reasonable to suspect that such money or other property was proceeds of crime and at the time of dealing the value of the money or property was $100,000.00 or more.

2. On 17 March 2020, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on that count. The matter was then stood over to 21 May 2020 for sentence hearing, and subsequently was adjourned to 2 July 2020.

3. The offence is pursuant to s 400.9(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth). The maximum penalty proscribed is a period of imprisonment for 3 years, or 180 penalty units, or both.

The sentence hearing

4. The sentence hearing took place on 2 July 2020. The Commonwealth Sentence Summary became Ex A on the sentence hearing. It included a Statement of Agreed Facts pursuant to s 191 of the Evidence Act 1995. A fair summary of facts to be derived from the jury verdict is as follows.

5. On 23 February 2019, the offender returned from Vietnam to Sydney on Flight JQ 62. She returned to her home at Unit 14/17-19 xx Avenue, Bankstown, where she lived as a tenant, at approximately 12.30pm that day.

6. The owner of the premises, Minh Kha Le, was not at home when she arrived. He returned home at approximately 1.45pm and parked his car in the garage and went upstairs into unit 14. Upon entering the unit he observed the offender standing over the coffee table in the living room where there was a light brown coloured box containing Australian currency. Mr Le observed $50 notes in the box as the notes were yellow. He went to the bathroom on the ground floor of the unit. He remained in the bathroom for between eight and 10 minutes, listening to music on his phone with earphones.

7. On emerging from the bathroom, and whilst he was in the laundry, Mr Le heard a noise at the rear of…