R v Bazouni [2020] NSWDC 61

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Bazouni [2020] NSWDC 61 Hearing dates: 1 October 2019 – 29 October 2019 Date of orders: 21 March 2020 Decision date: 21 March 2020 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Weinstein SC DCJ Decision: You are sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 5 years, with a non-parole period of 3 years. For orders see [134]. Catchwords: CRIME — Fraud — Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception — Bank SENTENCING — Penalties — Imprisonment- Aggregate sentence — Parity — Joint Criminal Enterprise — Findings of Fact Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW). Cases Cited: Green v R; Quinn v R (2011) 244 CLR 462 Markarian v The Queen [2005] HCA 25 Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120 R v Cornell [2015] NSWCCA 258 R v Finnie [2002] NSWCCA 533 at 59. Veen v The Queen (No 2) [1988] HCA 14 Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) John Bazouni (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr P Hogan, Mr R Kimbell (Crown) Mr M McHugh SC, Mr M Gleeson (Defence) File Number(s): 2015/00068058 Publication restriction: Pseudonyms have been used for the name of a witness and other relevant persons.

Judgment 1. The offender John Bazouni, born in 1976, was found guilty by a jury of the following offences on 1 November 2019: 1. Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception contrary to s 192E 1(b) of the Crimes Act 1900, by providing fraudulent documents including a loan application to St George Bank Limited (the bank) in the name of CD and by dishonestly obtaining for himself, AB, EF and CD a financial advantage, being an investment loan valued at $920,000 for the purchase of units 18 and 53, 19 – 23 Church Street at Nelson Bay between 9 April 2013 and 22 October 2013 (Count 1); 2. Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception contrary to s 192E (1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900, by providing fraudulent documents including a loan application in the name of LM to the bank and by dishonestly obtaining for himself, AB, and JK a financial advantage, being an investment loan valued at $920,000 for the purchase of units 2 and 1, 19 – 23 Church Street at Nelson Bay between 22 April 2013 and 27 April 2013 (Count 2); 3. Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception contrary to s 192E (1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900, by providing fraudulent documents including a loan application in the name of NP to the bank and by dishonestly obtaining for himself, AB, JK and EF a financial advantage, being an investment loan valued at $920,000 for the purchase of units 31 and 32, 19 – 23 Church Street at Nelson Bay between 24 June 2013 and 4 September 2013 (Count 4); 4. Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception contrary to s 192E (1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900, by providing fraudulent documents including a loan application in the name of EH to the bank and by dishonestly obtaining for himself, AB, EF and GH a financial advantage, being an investment loan valued at $920,000 for the purchase of units 48 and 49, 19 – 23 Church Street at Nelson Bay between 28 June 2013 and 13 September 2013 (Count 6); 5. Dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception contrary to s 192E (1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900, by providing fraudulent documents including a loan application in the name of GH to the bank and by dishonestly obtaining for himself, AB, EF and GH a financial advantage, being an investment loan valued at $920,000 for the purchase of units 51 and 52, 19 – 23 Church Street at Nelson Bay between 4 July 2013 and 15 November 2013 (Count 8); and 6. By deception, dishonestly attempted to obtain financial advantage contrary to sections 192E (1)(b) and 344A (1) of the Crimes Act 1900, by providing fraudulent documents including a loan application in the name of NP to the bank and dishonestly attempted to obtain for himself, AB, JK and EF a financial advantage, being an investment loan valued at $920,000 for the purchase of units 39 and 43, 19 – 23 Church Street at Nelson Bay between 5 July 2013 and 16 October 2013 (Count 9). 1. Count 3 on the indictment was in the alternative to count 2. Count 5 was in alternative to count 4, and count 7 was in the alternative to count 6. The offender was convicted of counts 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 on 1 November 2019. He has been in custody since that day. 2. The offences arose out of the offender's employment with the bank as a lending manager. 3. Two issues of significance arise on this sentence. The first is whether the offences were committed recklessly or intentionally. The offender contends the former, and the Crown the latter. The second issue is the question of parity in a case where there are three co-offenders (AB, JK and EF). They pleaded guilty to some different offences, some on a Form 1, and had very different subjective cases. They were sentenced by Judge Norrish QC in October 2018.