Comptroller-General of Customs v Manurung [2019] NSWLC 15

Local Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Comptroller-General of Customs v Manurung [2019] NSWLC 15 Hearing dates: 6 May 2019 Date of orders: 6 June 2019 Decision date: 06 June 2019 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Huntsman LCM Decision: Both defendants are convicted and fines imposed as per the orders Catchwords: Prohibited imports, Russian military aircraft parts, s16A matters, financial circumstances of defendants; utilitarian value of pleas of guilty Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Customs Act 1901 (Cth) Cases Cited: Jinde Huang aka Wei Liu v R [2018] NSWCCA 70 Xiao v R [2018] NSWCCA 4 Mahdi Jahandideh v R [2014] NSWCCA 178 Wong v R (2001) 207 CLR 584; [2001] HCA 64 Wu v R [2016] NSWCCA 96 R v Doan (2000) 50 NSWLR 115; [2000] NSWCCA 317 Category: Sentence Parties: Comptroller- General of Customs (Prosecution) Doris Maulina Manurung (Defendant) Aviation Spare Parts Pty Ltd (Defendant) Representation: Australian Government Solicitor, for the Prosecution Ms Boyd, solicitor for Defendants File Number(s): 2018/00389244 2018/00389221 2018/324235

Judgment

Background 1. Pleas of guilty were entered by both defendants, to a number of charges as detailed below, after some period of negotiation, and the matters were listed for sentence. The sentencing hearing consisted of evidence and submissions, by the defendants, and the Crown. Agreed facts were tendered. Both defendants were charged with Customs Act 1901 (Cth) offences, in relation to offences arising in the course of the import and export of aircraft parts for Russian military aircraft. The two defendants are Aviation Spare Parts Pty Ltd (ASP), a registered company, trading in New South Wales; and Dorisma Manurung (Manurung). Manurung is the spouse of Gregory Skierka (Skierka), who is the sole director of ASP. Ms Manurung is also the Sales Manager of ASP and has the day-to-day control of the business activities of ASP. The background to this matter is well set out in the Statement of Agreed Facts tendered at the sentencing hearing, and states as follows. 2. ASP has been charged with, and pleaded guilty to, 7 counts of importing prohibited imports, namely Russian origin military aircraft parts, contrary to s 233(1)(b) of the Act. The offences span the period July 2015 to April 2017 and relate to 11 separate importations (described in the Court Attendance Notice as Goods 1 to Goods 11 respectively). 3. ASP has also been charged with, and pleaded guilty to, 1 count of causing a statement to be made to an officer of Customs that was false or misleading in a material particular, namely that goods for export were described as a 'Head Up Display', when in fact the good for export was a 'H019-02 A3 Transmitter', contrary to s243U(1)of the Act. 4. Manurung has been charged with, and pleaded guilty to, 7 counts of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring, or being directly or indirectly concerned in the commission of offences against the Act by ASP, namely the 7 counts of importing prohibited imports, being Russian origin military aircraft parts (s 233(1)(b) read with s 236 of the Act). 5. Manurung is a 42 year old Indonesian born Australian resident. She and Skierka have two children aged 10 and 2. 6. Manurung arrived in Australia in 2004. She was educated in Indonesia. Since arriving in Australia she has been employed as a waitress, as an assistant in a supermarket, in a travel agent and in a sales role at Global Aviation Spares Pty Ltd (GAS), a company which trades in aircraft supplies. Manurung worked for GAS for 2 to 3 years and was then retrenched. Manurung then decided to utilise her sales contacts and skills obtained at GAS and established ASP in around November 2012. 7. ASP is a supplier of aviation spare parts. It does not manufacture any parts. Rather, on receiving a request to quote, it obtains pricing from established contacts and a database of aircraft suppliers. 8. ASP's business model is based on fulfilling a customer order from a variety of suppliers and selling the entire order at a higher price than it costs ASP to purchase the goods. 9. ASP originally only supplied parts for commercial aircrafts. Since about mid-2015 ASP's business has also included the importation and exportation of spare parts for military aircraft, in particular, the Sukhoi Su-27. Encyclopaedia Britannia describes the Su-27 as follows: Sukhoi Su-27, also called (NATO designation) Flanker, Russian air-superiority fighter plane, introduced into the air forces of the Soviet Union beginning in 1985. It is now one of the premier fighters of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, India, China, and Vietnam... Work on the Su-27 began at the Sukhoi design bureau in 1969 in direct response to the development of the F-15 Eagle fighter of the United States. While early prototypes were seen as inferior to the F-15, chief designer Mikhail Simonov gradually molded the Su-27 into what was arguably the finest air-superiority platform of the 20th century. Like its Cold War counterpart, the Su-27 developed into a large long-range interceptor, powered by twin turbofan engines and displaying a remarkable agility for its size. It is capable of flying at more than twice the speed of sound, has a service ceiling higher than 18,000 metres (59,000 feet), and has a flight range of more than 3,000 km (1,800 miles). Armament includes radar-guided or infrared-homing ("heat-seeking") air-to-air missiles, unguided air-to-ground rockets, conventional bombs and cluster bombs, and a gun firing 30-mm exploding shells.