Milne v R [2012] NSWCCA 24

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Milne v R [2012] NSWCCA 24 Hearing dates: 15 and 16 August 2011 Decision date: 02 March 2012 Before: Whealy JA Latham J Harrison J Decision: 1. Appeal against conviction is dismissed. 2. Leave to appeal against sentence is granted. 3. Appeal against sentence is dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - APPEAL AGAINST CONVICTION - money laundering - (s 400.3(1) Criminal Code (Cth)) - dishonestly obtain gain from Commonwealth (s 135.1(1) Criminal Code (Cth)) - money laundering involving creation and misuse of offshore structure - dishonest obtaining offence involving deception of accountants and lodgement of false tax return - failure to declare capital gain - share swap designed to hide capital gain - transfer of legal ownership of shares with retention of the beneficial ownership - whether there was evidence to support the first charge - whether trial judge correctly refused verdict by direction - whether the shares involved in the transaction were intended by the offender to facilitate the commission of an offence - meaning of "used to facilitate" - whether facts capable of constituting money laundering offence - whether trial judge failed to give essential directions - whether a miscarriage of justice occurred - whether verdicts were unreasonable - whether capital gains event occurred in relevant financial year or later.

CRIMINAL LAW - SENTENCE APPEAL - not guilty plea - grossly understated capital gain in false tax return - separate criminality in each of two related offences - loss to revenue of at least $1.9 million in capital gains tax - assessment of overlapping criminality - whether sentencing judge erred in assessment of criminality - whether totality principles correctly applied - whether sentences imposed reflected double punishment - substantial aspects of criminality in each offence - need for substantial sentences for each offence - importance of general and special deterrence in revenue avoidance offences - whether sentences were appropriately accumulated - whether good character overlooked - whether facilitation of the course of justice overlooked - whether sentences were manifestly excessive. Legislation Cited: - Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) - s 16A(1) - Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) - s 6 - Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) - ss 134.2, 135.1(1), 400.1, 400.3(1), 400.13, Div 400 of Part 10.2 of Chap 10 - Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) - s 184 - Foreign Evidence Act 1994 (Cth) - Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) - ss 104-110 - Proceeds of Crimes Act 1987 (Cth) - ss 81, 82 Cases Cited: - Ansari v R [2010] HCA 18; 266 ALR 446 - Bugmy v R [1990] HCA 18 169 CLR 525 - Cahyadi v The Queen (2007) 168 A Crim R 41 - DAO v R [2011] NSWCCA 63 - Deakin v R [1984] HCA 31; 58 ALJR 367 - Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Gregory [2011] VSCA 145 - Doney v R (1990) 171 CLR 207 - Draper v Police [2009] SASC 264 - Hili v R; Jones v R [2010] HCA 45; (2010) 272 ALR 465 - House v R (1936) 55 CLR 499 - M v R (1994) 181 CLR 487 - Markarian v R [2005] HCA 25; (2005) 215 ALR 213 - Nahlous v R [2010] NSWCCA 58; 77 NSWLR 463 - Nudd v R (2006) 80 ALJR 614 - Pearce v R [1998] HCA 57; 194 CLR 610 - Power v The Queen [1974] HCA 26; 131 CLR 623 - R v Adler [2005] NSWSC 274 - R v Ansari [2007] NSWCCA 204; 70 NSWLR 89 - R v Foster [2008] QCA 90; (2009) 1 QdR 53 - R v Gallagher (1991) 23 NSWLR 220 - R v Guo; R v Quian [2010] NSWCCA 170 - R v Hargraves and Stoten [2010] QCA 328 - R v Jones; R v Hili [2010] NSWCCA 108 - R v Lodhi [2006] NSWSC 691 - R v R (1989) 44 A Crim R 404 - R v Rivkin [2004] NSWCCA 7 - R v Wheatley [2007] VCC 718; (2007) 67 ATR 531 - R v Williams [2005] NSWSC 315; 152 A Crim R 548 - R v Wing Cheong Li [2010] NSWCCA 125 - Schembri v R [2010] NSWCCA 149 - SKA v R [2011] HCA 13; 85 ALJR 571 - Sunshine Worldwide Holdings Pty Limited, Re [2005] NSWSC 117; 62 NSWLR 400 - Thorne v R [2009] NSWCCA 294 - TKWJ v The Queen (2002) 2012 CLR 124 - Weiss v The Queen (2005) 224 CLR 300 - Wong v The Queen (2001) 207 CLR 584 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Michael John Milne (Appellant) Crown (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: L.P. Robberds QC, M.A. Polden (Appellant) P. Hastings QC, D. Jordan (Crown) Solicitors: Johnson Winter & Slattery (Appellant) Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent) File Number(s): 2008/054586 2008/269487 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9111 Before: Johnson J File Number(s): 2008/054586 2008/269487