News and Media Releases

Members of an international drug syndicate were yesterday sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court to lengthy prison sentences for conspiring with each other to import and traffic a commercial quantity of a bordered controlled drug—cocaine.

Iranian national, 39-year-old Mahmood Rajabizadeh was today sentenced to a total effective sentence of 9 years and 6 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 7 years for possessing a marketable quantity of illicit drugs—heroin and methamphetamine. Rajabizadeh was found guilty to three drug-related offences after a five-day trial between 5 – 9 October 2015.

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Perth man, 43-year-old Adam John Bennett was today sentenced to a two year term of imprisonment to be released forthwith on a recognizance release order to be of good behaviour for 2 years and also a 2 year intensive supervision order with a condition that he complete 200 hours of community service for his role in aiding a juvenile to hack various websites on 5 November 2012 and also in relatio

• The matter of the death of Mr Andrew John Witton was referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) in June 2010. 

A 30-year-old Canberra man, Joshua Ferguson was yesterday sentenced to 22 months imprisonment, to serve 5 months in custody, for child exploitation offences.   Ferguson was sentenced in relation to offences for accessing, transmitting and possessing child pornography material.

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
A Sydney accountant has been convicted and sentenced today for his role in advising a client on how to hide funds offshore with entities in Hong Kong and Switzerland, resulting in the avoidance of $4.5 million in tax.

Mark Pedley has been appointed as the new Commonwealth Solicitor for Public Prosecutions at Australia’s federal prosecution service—the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP).

• On 20 April 2015, police from the Melbourne Joint Counter Terrorism Team charged Mr Harun Causevic with one count of conspiring to do an act in preparation or planning for a terrorist act, contrary to sections 11.5 and s.101.6 of the Criminal Code (Cth).
• Following the service of a police brief of evidence, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) conducted an indepen

The Director of a Melbourne based Asian green grocer, Suky Lieu, was today sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 years for his role as a principal offender in the trafficking of significant quantities of controlled drugs in Australia and the laundering of large sums of money.

A 70-year-old Queensland woman was today sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment for collecting her dead mother’s pension for nearly 20 years and defrauding the Australian community of $254,440. She will serve six months of the sentence before being released on a recognisance to be of good behaviour for a period of 18 months.

Members of the public are continuing to receive phone calls supposedly from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) requesting people to contact the Office in relation to a tax fraud warrant – ultimately seeking people to deposit money into a bank account, to send it overseas or attend a post office and put money on a Deposit Card.

Three Canadians who were involved in the trafficking of 650 kilograms of ephedrine hidden in vanilla powder jars have been gaoled. Forty-eight-year-old Edmond Proko, 28-year-old James Wray Kelsey and 31- year-old Catherine Marie McNaughton, were sentenced today in the Melbourne’s County Court for their separate roles in trafficking jars of chemicals capable of producing deadly drugs.