R v Chalabian (No. 14) [2022] NSWSC 829

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Chalabian (No. 14) [2022] NSWSC 829 Hearing dates: 27 May 2022 Date of orders: 23 June 2022 Decision date: 23 June 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Johnson J Decision: 1. For the offence of money laundering contrary to s.400.3(1) Criminal Code (Cth), the Offender is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 12 years, comprising a non-parole period of seven years and six months commencing on 23 June 2022 and expiring on 22 December 2029 with a balance of term of four years and six months commencing on 23 December 2029 and expiring on 22 June 2034. 2. The earliest date upon which the Offender will be eligible for release on parole is 23 December 2029. Catchwords: Crime – sentence – offender found guilty following trial by jury – charge of money laundering under s.400.3(1) Criminal Code (Cth) – offender a solicitor dealing with proceeds of crime – very substantial sums passing though trust account over period exceeding three months – 53 deposits totalling $24 million and 22 disbursement of funds – proceeds of crime including fraud, blackmail and money laundering – assessment of objective gravity of offence – relevance of prior good character on sentence – parity considerations – importance of general deterrence – consideration of other sentencing factors – substantial custodial sentence appropriate Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Criminal Code (Cth) Cases Cited: Alvares v R (2011) 209 A Crim R 297; [2011] NSWCCA 33 Ansari v R (2007) 70 NSWLR 89; [2007] NSWCCA 204 Cheung v The Queen (2001) 209 CLR 1; [2001] HCA 67 Croke v R [2021] NSWCCA 249 Dickson v R [2016] NSWCCA 105 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Gregory (2011) 34 VR 1; [2011] VSCA 145 Filippou v The Queen (2015) 256 CLR 47; [2015] HCA 29 Fung v R [2018] NSWCCA 26 Hili and Jones v The Queen (2010) 242 CLR 520; [2010] HCA 45 Imbornone v R [2017] NSWCCA 144 Islam v R [2016] NSWCCA 233 Kim v R [2016] VSCA 238 Majeed v R [2013] VSCA 40 Markarian v the Queen (2005) 228 CLR 357; [2005] HCA 25 Milne v The Queen (2014) 252 CLR 149; [2014] HCA 4 Oliver v R [2020] NSWCCA 26 R v Anquetil [2021] NSWCCA 59 R v Chalabian (No. 1) [2020] NSWSC 1341 R v Chalabian (No. 10) [2022] NSWSC 316 R v Chalabian (No. 12) [2022] NSWSC 432 R v Chalabian (No. 7) [2022] NSWSC 227 R v Chalabian (No. 8) ]2022] NSWSC 304 R v Hammond [2020] NSWSC 888 R v Hausman; R v Rostankovski [2022] NSWCCA 24 R v Hawkins (1989) 45 A Crim R 430 R v Isaacs (1997) 41 NSWLR 374 R v Issakidis [2018] NSWSC 378 R v Jiao (2015) 251 A Crim R 236; [2015] NSWCCA 95 R v Krivosic (No. 7) [2022] NSWSC 507 R v Lin [2014] NSWCCA 254 R v Ly (2014) 241 A Crim R 192; [2014] NSWCCA 78 R v Milne (2012) 219 A Crim R 237; [2012] NSWCCA 24 R v Nguyen (2010) 204 A Crim R 246; [2010] NSWCCA 226 Strbak v The Queen (2020) 267 CLR 494; [2020] HCA 10 TAN and Ors v R (2011) 35 VR 109; [2011] VSCA 427 Tepania v R (2018) 275 A Crim R 233; [2018] NSWCCA 247 The Queen v Hillier (2007) 228 CLR 618; [2007] HCA 13 The Queen v Olbrich (1999) 199 CLR 270; [1999] HCA 54 The Queen v Pham (2015) 256 CLR 550; [2015] HCA 39 Totaan v R [2022] NSWCCA 75 Weininger v The Queen (2003) 212 CLR 629; [2003] HCA 14 Texts Cited: --- Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) Sevag Chalabian (Offender) Representation: Counsel: Ms T McDonald SC; Ms G Wright SC (Crown) Mr GA Brady SC; Mr A Williams (Offender)