R v Zhen Chi CHEN [2008] NSWDC 60

R v Zhen Chi CHEN [2008] NSWDC 60

The offender committed a serious, planned Commonwealth money laundering offence by providing Mr Huang with $3,088,311 and instructing him to conduct 333 overseas transfers, all under $10,000, to avoid the reporting requirements of the Financial Transactions Reports Act (Cth) and detection by the Australian Taxation Office. Taking into account the objective seriousness of the offence, the offender's role as principal, the absence of a guilty plea, contrition or assistance, the importance of general deterrence, parity with Mr Huang, the offender's personal circumstances and family hardship, and credit for 11 months 20 days already spent in custody, the appropriate sentence was imprisonment...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
27 March 2008
Procedural Posture
Criminal Sentence After Trial for Money Laundering / Sentencing After Jury Verdict of Guilty
Outcome
Offender convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen years six months ten days.
Legal Topics
['dealing With Money of $1, 000, 000 or More Intending It to Be an Instrument of Crime' 'commonwealth Sentencing Factors' 'general Deterrence' 'parity' 'non Parole Period']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing' 'money Laundering'] ['dealing With Money of $1,000,000 or More Intending It to Be an Instrument of Crime' 'commonwealth Sentencing Factors' 'general Deterrence' 'parity' 'non Parole Period']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Sentence After Trial for Money Laundering / Sentencing After Jury Verdict of Guilty

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['What sentence should be imposed for dealing with money of $1,000,000 or more intending it to be an instrument of crime.' 'Whether the offender was the principal in relation to Mr Huang and whether his sentence should be higher than the starting point identified for Mr Huang.' "Whether the evidence allowed findings about the offender's benefit and purpose in transferring the money overseas." 'How to apply s 16A of the Crimes Act (Cth), general deterrence, parity, and credit for time already spent in custody.']

Ratio Decidendi

The offender committed a serious, planned Commonwealth money laundering offence by providing Mr Huang with $3,088,311 and instructing him to conduct 333 overseas transfers, all under $10,000, to avoid the reporting requirements of the Financial Transactions Reports Act (Cth) and detection by the Australian Taxation Office. Taking into account the objective seriousness of the offence, the offender's role as principal, the absence of a guilty plea, contrition or assistance, the importance of general deterrence, parity with Mr Huang, the offender's personal circumstances and family hardship, and credit for 11 months 20 days already spent in custody, the appropriate sentence was imprisonment...

Court Disposition

Offender convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen years six months ten days.

Orders

  • ['Zhen Chi Chen is convicted of dealing with money of $1,000,000 or more intending it to be an instrument of crime.' 'The offender is sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen years six months ten days.' 'A non-parole period of nine years six months ten days is fixed from 22 October 2007 to 1 May 2017.' 'A parole period...