By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Hong Kong national will be jailed and then deported for his “middle management” role in a money laundering ring in Springvale.
Kit Tang, 42, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to five counts of procuring other people to deal with proceeds of crime in mid-2015.
Tang oversaw the Springvale branch of the purported meat and seafood exporter CC&B International, directing two staff members to unknowingly issue false export receipts for more than $4.6m cash.
Over 18 visits, the staff deposited the unlawfully sourced cash into the Springvale Commonwealth Bank branch.
Judge Michael Cahill found that Tang knew the export business was a “charade” and at the least, turned a “blind eye” to the laundering.
He knew the invoices weren’t genuine and had been careful not to be involved in banking the money.
While in Hong Kong, Tang was recruited by CC&B owners Barry and Connie Leung as a bar that he owned went bust. He then arrived to work for CC&B in Australia on a student visa in 2014.
He told police he was the “human relations manager” of the ‘export business’.
His accommodation was a townhouse owned by Mr Leung near the Springvale office. He was paid $3000 a month.
Tang was a convicted drug trafficker, arrested in Hong Kong in 1998 with 3.25 kilos of No.4 heroin – which is the purest form of heroin, Judge Cahill said.
He had served his sentence of up to 14 years, four months jail.
He also had prior convictions for burglary, theft and possessing a false instrument.
According to a psychologist, Tang said he was motivated to succeed by his “negative” childhood. His mother left the family when he was 2; his alcoholic, gambling father inflicted abuse.
The psychologist stated Tang’s “deprived” childhood was likely to explain his “anti-social behaviour”.
In a “powerful letter” to the court, Tang stated he’d found maturity since his arrest and bail.
He’d learnt responsibility from owning a Golden Retriever and sponsoring a child overseas with Child Fund Australia.
His impressive steps towards rehabilitation boded well for him, Judge Cahill found.
Tang was jailed for three years and two months, with a minimum non-parole period of two years.
He was notified by Australian Border Force that he would be deported after his imprisonment.
