On 11 July 2023, following a 6-week trial in the Supreme Court of NSW, Mr Jonatan Kelu and Mr Cedric Millner were each found guilty of 2 counts of conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth, for their role in committing gold bullion fraud over a 2-year period. In total they defrauded the Commonwealth of $40,911,685. The CDPP successfully prosecuted the matter and on 11 July 2023, Mr Kelu and Mr Milner were each convicted of an offence contrary to s135.4(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). On 15 December 2023 they were sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 4 years and 6 months.

On 23 April 2021, a Victorian Supreme Court jury found Mrs Kumunthini Kannan and Mr Kandasamy Kannan guilty of possessing and using a person as a domestic slave in their Melbourne home. This followed an investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and lengthy prosecution by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Two men from New South Wales, who asserted themselves as ‘sovereign citizens’, failed to appear in court and the matters proceeded in their absence. They were found guilty in absentia and convicted on all 8 charges. Fines were imposed for each charge, amounting to a total fine of $8,600 for each offender.

NSW man Hamdi Alqudsi directed the activities of a terrorist organisation in Australia that planned terrorist acts and supported hostilities overseas. Prosecutors worked on the matter for four years, resulting in a successful outcome for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, with Mr Alqudsi being sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in April 2023.

Following Australia’s deepest ever commercial dive, DOF Subsea Australia Pty Ltd (DOF) was fined $945,000 and ordered to pay $97,597 in costs due to its failures to take reasonably practicable steps to protect the health and safety of deep sea divers engaged to work at a depth of between 237 and 270 metres.

Corporate offenders found to be engaged in foreign bribery are likely to face higher penalties after the High Court unanimously upheld an appeal in its August 2023 decision in The King v Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. The decision is a win for the CDPP which presented arguments before the High Court. The appeal focused on the Court’s interpretation of s70.2(5)(b) of the Criminal Code (Cth) and held that the maximum penalty must be set with reference to the gross value of the benefit obtained from the offending, as opposed to the net value after the expense of the offending was offset. The ruling is also likely to affect calculating penalties under s70.2(5) of the Criminal Code in a range of cases pursuant to the Corporations Act and the Competition and Consumer Act, including cartel conduct, misleading or deceptive conduct, market manipulation and insider trading.