JUDGMENT - REMARKS ON SENTENCE
1 HIS HONOUR: The offender, George Segal, has pleaded guilty to four counts under s31 of the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 (C'th) of conducting transactions so as to avoid the reporting requirements imposed by that Act. The first two counts charge that he was a party to transactions, while the third and fourth counts charge that he was knowingly concerned in transactions to which one Maureen Bates was a party. He also asks that I take into account five further offences under that same provision, set out on a form under s16BA of the Crimes Act 1914 (C'th). The first three of those relate to transactions to which he was a party, and the fourth and fifth relate to transactions to which Ms Bates was a party and in which he was knowingly concerned.
2 The facts need not be recited at length. They are summarised succinctly in a statement of facts provided by the Crown, as follows:
Counts 1 - 2 on Indictment
Offences 1 - 3 admitted on section 16BA Crimes Act 1914 form
1. Between 20 March and 27 June 2000, George Segal, using his own name or that of a trust associated with him, undertook a total of 20 transfers of cash in amounts of less than $10,000 to overseas bank accounts…
2. The transfers were undertaken by way of international fund transfers through banks in Sydney. Customer copies of the bank documentation were located in George Segal's study during the execution of a search warrant at his residential premises at Thornton Street, Darling Point.
Counts 3 - 4 on Indictment
Offences 4 - 5 admitted on section 16BA Crimes Act 1914 form
3. Between 10 April and 1 June 2000, another third party, Maureen Bates undertook transfers of cash in amounts of less than $10,000 to overseas bank accounts on behalf of George Segal. Bates conducted the cash transfers using her own name and a false name of Maria Grenfell…
4. Telephone calls were lawfully intercepted between George Segal and Bates in which Segal sought Bates' availability to conduct the transfers and arrangements were made between them for the transfers to be undertaken. In one instance Segal stated to Bates that he had yet to leave his residence as he was still counting the money.
5. Other intercepted telephone calls revealed that Bates was receiving payments from George Segal for undertaking the transfers on his behalf.
6. During the execution of the search warrant at the Thornton Street premises the NCA located the customer copies of the relevant bank transfer documents in George Segal's study. Also located was a piece of paper with the false name, address and phone number used by Bates.
7. George Segal's fingerprints were identified on three bank transfer documents held by the bank.
3 Attached to the statement of facts is a schedule of the transactions involved. From that schedule, it appears that the offences the subject of the first two counts on the indictment and the first three matters on the s16BA form involved transactions totalling $176,000. The remaining offences, counts 3 and 4 in the indictment and the fourth and fifth entries on the s16BA form, involved transactions totalling $237,000. The grand total of all the transactions was $413,000.
4 In the offender's case on sentence I received a statement he had made concerning the circumstances of the offences. In understanding that statement I was assisted by some background explained to me by his solicitor, Mr Bilinski, who appeared for him.
5 The offender was a friend of Ms Ida Ronen. In the late 1990s Ms Ronen was approached by a mutual friend who was involved in a company which traded in diamonds. That person sought Ms Ronen's assistance in sending money overseas. Ms Ronen, in turn, approached the offender about that matter, saying that he could earn money by charging a small percentage of the amount transferred. Put shortly, the object of this exercise was to enable the diamond trading company to evade Australian taxation of the proceeds of its trading - a practice which, apparently, was not unknown in that industry.
6 It is not necessary to recite in any detail the offender's statement. It is sufficient to say that he agreed to arrange the transfer of money from time to time, charging 4 percent of the amount involved. For a time, the transfers were effected by his accountant, Ms Helena Rule. Later, he transferred the money himself. He also engaged Ms Maureen Bates, with whom he was having a relationship, to transfer money. She was not well off financially, and he was able to help her by paying her for this service.
7 The offender's statement suggests a longer course of these dealings than is disclosed by the statement of facts tendered by the Crown. Of course, he is to be sentenced only in respect of the charges which are before me, on the basis of those facts.
8 He was arrested in February 2001 for these matters, as well as his part in a conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth. That conspiracy involved a major fraud upon the Australian Taxation Office, in which the principal offenders were Ms Ronen and her two sons and in which the offender's role was relatively minor.
9 Early in 2003 he provided an induced statement to the authorities in the prosecution of the Ronens. He was granted a conditional undertaking, under s9(6D) of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983, that he would not be prosecuted for that matter. Over several days in June 2004 he gave evidence at the trial of the Ronens before Whealy J. His evidence was described by a senior officer of the Australian Crime Commission as "compelling and credible", and was assessed as having substantially strengthened the prosecution case against the Ronens. They were found guilty and sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
10 He also supplied information nominating the persons he said were the owners of the money the subject of the offences with which I am dealing. Later, through his solicitor, he expressed his willingness to give evidence against those people. However, the Crime Commission decided not to pursue this information, on the basis that it was provided too long after his arrest and would be unlikely to be corroborated.
11 The only entry in his criminal history is his conviction in a Local Court in March 1999 of three charges under the Social Security Act relating to payments to which he was not entitled. He was ordered to perform 180 hours of community service. He is now seventy-one years old. He has two adult children and three grandchildren. He migrated to this country in 1957 and is an Australian citizen. For about the past three years he has been living with another woman, and that relationship appears to be stable.
12 In recent years he has been earning a modest income, managing bridge clubs. There were tendered on his behalf testimonials from responsible citizens, attesting to his general good character, his voluntary community work, and his remorse about the present offences. His voluntary service to the community includes work at a synagogue in the eastern suburbs and for the community radio station, 2MBSFM. From those testimonials it also appears that his relationship with his present partner is beneficial to him, and that his giving evidence against the Ronens caused him considerable stress and has compromised his relationship with a number of people with whom he and they used associate.