The Commissioner of The Australian Federal Police v Vo [2015] NSWSC 1523

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: The Commissioner of The Australian Federal Police v Vo [2015] NSWSC 1523 Hearing dates: 21 September 2015 Date of orders: 16 October 2015 Decision date: 16 October 2015 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Schmidt J Decision: The usual order as to costs is that they follow the event. That would mean an order in favour of the Commissioner, as agreed or assessed.

The parties should confer and provide orders reflecting the conclusions here reached, within 14 days.

The Commissioner has liberty to approach if the order in relation to the Lalor property is to be pressed. If not, that aspect of the summons should be dealt with in the orders which should also include:

"All exhibits and subpoenaed material may be returned forthwith; any exhibits returned must be retained intact by the party or person that produced the material until the expiry of the time to file an appeal, or until any appeal has been determined."

The matter will be listed at 9:30am on 4 November 2015 for mention. Catchwords: STATUTES - acts of parliament - operation and effect of statutes – proper construction of s 49(3) of the Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002 (Cth) – whether motions fell within s 49(3)

CIVIL LAW – proceeds of crime – forfeiture order – whether cash was the proceeds or instrument of an offence under s 400.9 of the Criminal Code (Cth) – cash was the proceeds of a s 400.9 offence – cash was the instrument of a s 400.9 offence - whether motion filed had been withdrawn for the purposes of s 49 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) Legislation Cited: Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 (Cth) Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) Cases Cited: Beckwith v The Queen [1976] HCA 55; (1976) 135 CLR 569 Chen v Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) [2011] NSWCCA 205; (2011) 83 NSWLR 224 Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police v Fitzroy AII Pty Ltd [2015] WASC 320 Commissioner of the Australia Federal Police v Courteney Investments Ltd [2015] WASC 101 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Mylecharane [2007] NSWSC 1174 Forbes v Traders' Finance Corporation Ltd [1971] HCA 60; (1972) 126 CLR 429 Lee v Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) [2009] NSWCA 347; (2009) 75 NSWLR 581 Lin v R [2015] NSWCCA 204; (2015) 297 FLR 457 Milne v The Queen [2014] HCA 4; (2014) 252 CLR 149 Murphy v Farmer [1988] HCA 31; (1988) 165 CLR 19 Public Transport Commission of New South Wales v J Murray-More (NSW) Pty Ltd [1975] HCA 28; (1975) 132 CLR 336 R v Lavender [2005] HCA 37; (2005) 222 CLR 67 Re Australian Federation of Construction Contractors; Ex parte Billing [1986] HCA 74; (1986) 61 ALJR 37 SAS Trustee Corporation v Woollard [2014] NSWCA 75; (2004) 86 NSWLR 367 The Nominal Defendant v Gabriel [2007] NSWCA 52; (2007) 71 NSWLR 150 Texts Cited: D C Pearce and R S Geddes, Statutory Interpretation in Australia (7th ed 2011, LexisNexis) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: The Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (Plaintiff) Thi Thuy Linh Vo (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr G J O'Mahoney (Plaintiff) Ms C Dobraszczyk (Defendant)