It's difficult to understand how a man helping a multimillion-dollar fraud syndicate initially believed what he was doing was "in any way legitimate and lawful work", a judge has said.
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That's the story Harjeet Singh told officers after being arrested mid-last year, when a court heard police were investigating an operation said then to be valued at more than $5.35 million.
The 24-year-old previously admitted to numerous rolled up counts of obtaining property by deception after helping the scheme target mostly Telstra customers while contracted to Australia Post as a delivery driver.
But he escaped further time behind bars when Justice Verity McWilliam handed him a nearly two-year prison term to be served in the community by way of an intensive correction order.
He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
The Indian-born man, who lost his job with Australia Post after being charged but is currently employed with another company as a casual delivery driver, now likely faces deportation.
The judge did not make a definitive finding about Singh's claim he was not aware of the illegality of the operation at first.
But she said, after four months, it was readily apparent to him "what he was doing constituted criminal conduct" and he continued to engage with the "ruse" for another two months.
Scam claim
The fraudster's barrister previously told the court his naive and desperate client "got into this by being scammed".
"The scam operates by targeting vulnerable people who are unskilled and they're immigrant workers," barrister Jonathan Cooper said in April.
Singh told police an unknown man first approached him on the street while wearing a high-vis vest and pyjama pants, and eventually convinced him the scheme was "not any illegal thing".
"If you want more money with this job, then I have something for you," that man allegedly told Singh after following him for multiple days.
He allegedly threatened complaining to Australia Post when Singh asked to stop being involved months later.
On Friday, Justice McWilliam described Singh as having been "blackmailed" and said he was "not the ultimate mastermind". No further arrests have been made.
The scheme
Singh helped dishonestly obtain dozens of phones in his capacity as a delivery driver working in Ngunnawal.
The operation involved an unknown party accessing the online accounts of Telstra and Vodafone customers, ordering phones and changing the address to within the delivery area of a particular driver.
For his part, Singh scanned 57 consignments worth about $137,000 in total last year as delivered but instead took them home.
The phones were then picked up at the end of each week between January and June and he was paid $300 on a number of occasions.
Justice McWilliam said the intensive correction order she handed the man was unquestionably less punitive than full-time custody, "but it is still punishment to which onerous conditions may attach".
While the judge considered imposing a fine as a form of reparations, she said the offender was "not at all in any position to pay the debt".
She said Singh got involved in the operation for extra cash to help financially support his "poverty-stricken family".
Singh has previously spent six days in custody for his crimes. His community-based prison term is set to end in June 2026.
- You can report a scam online with the National Anti-Scam Centre.
Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
