By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Malaysian national on a tourist visa has been jailed over possessing more than two million illegally-imported cigarettes at a Dandenong warehouse.
Yunn Fang, 23, had pleaded guilty and was sentenced for possessing tobacco products with the intent of defrauding federal revenue at the County Court of Victoria on 31 May.
He had been arrested at a Bryants Road warehouse where he was unpacking 2,016,000 illegally-imported cigarettes in blue plastic tubs from a shipping container on 10 August 2017.
The value of evaded excise duty and GST was a “very considerable” $1.244 million, Judge Frances Hogan said.
There was no evidence Fang was involved in the importation but played an “essential role” in what appeared to be a “well-organised” and “professional” enterprise, Judge Hogan said.
Fang had arrived in Australia at Gold Coast airport on a five-day tourist visa on 21 July.
He lied to customs officers that he was attending Queensland theme parks and would not be travelling interstate.
That day, he booked a flight to Melbourne for 23 July.
Throughout his trip, he made phone calls to numbers with known links to illegal tobacco importation, including a commercial site in Campbellfield.
He was picked up from Avalon Airport in a car with NSW number plates.
He used his own passport and a false Victorian address to set up a bank account. He also used his own name to hire a car, showing a lack of sophistication, Judge Hogan noted.
On 3 August, Fang hired accommodation at Comfort Inn, Dandenong.
At the Bryants Road warehouse, a truck arrived with the consigned shipping container. The waiting Fang took delivery using a “fake” signature.
When arrested at the site that day, he told police that he’d come to Melbourne to find a job.
He claimed that in Australia, he’d met a Malaysian person who offered him $1000 to unload the Dandenong shipping container, he told police.
A defence lawyer contradicted this version in court, saying that within two days of coming to Melbourne, Fang was told he’d be paid between $10,000 and $20,000.
This was the first time Fang was alerted to the illegality of the container, the lawyer argued.
Judge Hogan said the offence was difficult to detect, requiring “a great deal of time, diligence and resources” for investigation, she said.
It undermined Federal Parliament’s efforts to discourage tobacco use with increased duties.
It also lessened available revenue and brought cheap tobacco on the market without any quality control, she noted.
Fang had grown up “not well off” with his mother and sister in Malaysia.
Prior to his ill-fated trip to Australia, he operated machinery to make medical equipment in Singapore and sent money to his family.
Fang was jailed for two years from the day of sentence.
After one year, Fang will be released on a recognizance release order comprising of a two-year good behaviour bond with $2000 surety.
