By Jessica Anstice
A Melbourne man has been sentenced to jail for two years after pleading guilty in the Victorian County Court for laundering more than $1.8 million.
Chin Hong Soh, a 25-year-old originally from Malaysia, admitted to his involvement in a large scale criminal syndicate which operated a money laundering and tobacco operation between May and July last year.
Along with two co-accused, Soh collected significant amounts of cash using a black bag from people in Hallam ($410k), Narre Warren ($220k) and Sunbury ($1.3m) in exchange for tobacco products, the court heard.
The cigarette smuggling trio rented storage units in Caroline Springs and Deer Park before illegally importing 560,000 tobacco sticks in May and a further 182,592 cigarettes in July.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) members conducted a search warrant at an apartment in Melbourne on 24 July and as a result, discovered $1.8 million in Australian and foreign currency. That same day, Soh was arrested by the AFP.
The court heard that after moving to Australia in 2013, Soh was expected by his conservative Malaysian family to secure a high paying job to support his parents, however when this did not eventuate, he turned to an “easy way to make money”.
In sentencing, Judge Anne Hassan said Soh’s prospects were “good”, however he will be deported back to Malaysia after serving his sentence.
“This offending is not victimless. The revenue must be protected to enable the government to provide for the community,” she said.
“The person who launders money is an important cog in the wheel of organised crime and such conduct warrants severe punishment.”
In conducting the crime, Soh took on an organisation role to recruit and provide instructions, telephone intercept material obtained by the AFP revealed.
Judge Hassan said his position was “far from lowly”.
“You directed the actions of others here in Australia and it is clear from the telephone intercepts and from items from your home … that you had organisational responsibility as well as a hands on role of the distribution of money within the syndicate,” she stated in the hearing.
“Your money laundering activity was over a relatively short period of time but it was not a one off occurrence and it involved a significant amount of money.
“Your offending was vital to the viability and ongoing operations of the criminal syndicate.”
Soh was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, with 16 months to be served before he is to be released on a recognisance for eight months.
